The Unit
by Suddenly-Blue
Summary: Part 1/2. FBI Agent Dave Batista blames himself for his partner's death. Feeling guilt, he's offered a job in a secret branch of the FBI called "The Unit". Will a handsome guy he's paired with be his path to self-forgiveness? SLASH Dollhouse/Fringe X-Over
1. Guilt

_Wow this is my first fic! I'm super excited. I've written a one-shot story entitled "A Newfound World" to prep me for this one. Both stories have the same characters (With different variations of course). The storylines are completely different though. Mild slash to come. DaveXOFC. I plan on developing a series out of this story if the first one turns out ok. I have many great ideas on where I would like it to go. Hope you enjoy! PLEASE REVIEW!_

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**Chapter One – Guilt**

'_A Typical Wednesday_', Dave thought to himself as he took a small sip out of his Miller-Lite beer bottle. The time was around 9:30 PM. He sat on a brown leather couch in his small, one-bedroom apartment in darkness. The only source of light that lit the room was the illuminating glow from the adjacent buildings. He didn't know why, but Wednesdays seem to be very depressing for him. Most people would cite Mondays or even Sundays as their slow days, but for Dave it was Wednesdays, However this particular Wednesday was anything but typical. On Monday he'd finally lost his job at the Bureau, the only thing that kept him tethered to his slipping grip on reality. His continued behavior of random outbursts and disobeying direct orders was the cause for this. He'd been giving lots of second chances, more so than anyone else would have received under the circumstances. After refusing counseling, violently mishandling suspects, aggressive behavior towards colleagues and the occasional arriving on the job drunk, the final straw had been snapped; FBI Deputy Director Arnold Kane had finally given up on the big guy. Dave continued to spiral out of control, flirting with calamity. He took another sip of his beer and continued to riddle himself with guilt.

"FUCK!" Dave said, kicking the coffee table in front of him, nearly causing it to overturn.

"Why did this have to happen? It was a simple bag and tag op. Fuck."

Dave lied back on the couch cushions and began to play in his mind the events that ended the life of his partner, Special Agent Roger Carrigan 2 months ago...

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_FBI Agents Batista and Carrigan were assigned to a narcotics case involving Peter Hanson, the son of a prominent local politician Mark Hanson. Deputy Director Kane wanted this case to be kept low-profile and away from the hawking eyes of the media, who were at the time in a frenzy. They were looking to dig up any dirt they could on either candidates running for Mayor as they tend to do during election cycles. He did this partly out of courtesy for his friend of over 30 years. He was also an active contributor to Hanson's campaign for mayor. Director Kane sensed no conflict of interest on his part so he refused to recues himself from the case. Agents Batista & Carrigan followed Director Kane's orders and proceeded with their case discreetly_

_… _

_One day they received a tip from one of Peter Hanson's friends, a guy who called himself "Skippy Jones". He told an inquiring Agent Carrigan that he obtained the nickname because he tends to skip around when he's 'Higher than the fucking sky'. He informed the agents that Peter planned to unload $120,000 worth of cocaine he'd obtained from Mexico last week to various dealers in Los Angeles. Skippy Jones also told them that the drugs were being stored in an abandoned warehouse near Van Nuys and that Peter planned on distributing the drugs at 10:00pm later that night. Skippy also provided info that there would only be about 3 people there during the transaction, an easy job for the seasoned agents._

_As 10 PM neared that night, Batista & Carrigan arrived at the warehouse. They parked their SUV out of site and got out of the vehicle. As they prepped for the raid, they saw a lone patrol men stationed outside the aging building's front entrance. They also spotted a large van parked close to the entrance. As Roger began to prep for some light reconnaissance, Dave armed himself with 2 firearms, preparing to hit full force on the 2 men inside._

_"What the hell are you doing Batista?" Carrigan fumed, placing a hand on Dave's broad shoulder. "We need to scope out the place first. You know that."_

_"Calm down Rog. Skippy said there would only be about 3 marks in there, Hanson and 2 others. I think we can handle that", Dave replied with a kind of cocky smirk painted on his face. He cocked his gun and once again proceeded to move forward, to which Carrigan held him firmly in place. Carrigan, slightly shorter and smaller in stature was older and a seasoned vet at the bureau._

_"Look Dave, you and I are not invincible. We go by the book on this one. You heard what Kane said; 'Keep this shit low profile.'"_

_"We will Rog. It's fine. C'mon man. We can handle this. What's the matter? You starting to doubt your abilities old timer?" Dave said, chuckling. He gave the older agent a pat on the back._

_"Fine we'll do it your way, but I take point got it? Oh and by the way, I ain't old."_

_"Sure thing pops." _

_"Err…" Carrigan growled before making his way in front of Dave as they approached the side of the warehouse in stealth fashion. The lookout was still safeguarding the front entrance. Their 1st priority was to take him out. Carrigan waited for the man to turn his back before he proceeded to sneak up behind. He wrapped his forearm around the smaller man's neck, attempting to incompassitate him. The man struggle under Carrigan's grip for a few seconds before allowing Roger's hold to render him unconscious._

_"Alight, let's go inside." Carrigan peered through the small window located on the door and saw that the inside was abandoned. All that was visible were large shelves and a bare floor._

_"What the hell? Where is everyone?" asked a frustrated Roger._

_Batista scratched his head and put his hands on his hips. "Dammit. You think they were tipped off?"_

_"If they were, why is this idiot still hanging outside? It makes no sense."_

_As Dave began to piece the puzzle together, a loud gunshot was heard from afar, followed by an immediate collision of metal on metal as a bullet pierced the side of the warehouse._

_"SHOOTER!" Cried Batista as he pulled Roger behind the van near the entrance to shield themselves from the barrage of bullets headed their way. Dave caught a glimpse of 3 men armed with automatic weapons a few yards away as he & Carrigan began to return fire. Dave quickly got on his cell and called for backup. Dispatch informed him assistance would arrive shortly. As he tucked his phone back in his pocket and prepped for another round of retaliation, he noticed Roger moving closer to the edge of the vehicle near the front tire._

_"COVER ME!" He yelled as he prepared to take cover behind a large stack of wood planks._

_"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?" Batista responded, continuing to shoot at the gunmen._

_"WE NEED TO GET AT THEM FROM 2 ANGLES! NOW COVER ME!" Roger demanded._

_"NO! JUST WAIT TIL REINFORCEMENTS ARRIVE."_

_"WE DON'T HAVE A FUCKING CHOICE! THEY'RE BUTCHING US OUT HERE. NOW COVER ME. THAT'S AN ORDER AGENT BATISTA!"_

_"ROG!"_

_And with that, the older agent peeked out from behind the van and began to return fire, making his way towards the wood planks._

_Dave hesitated for a moment._

_A moment too long…_

_…_

_He doesn't remember much after that. He faintly remembers a police chopper circling above taking aim at the shooters and heard the unmistakable sirens of a fleet of police cars approaching their location. He scrambled towards his partner and knelt over him. He was at a loss for words. Nothing of the outside world was registering with him. His body became numb and a terrible feeling rushed over him so rapidly that he ceased breathing for a few seconds. His eyes were now watering, trying to fight back the onslaught of tears that were beginning to form._

_"No… Rog…."_

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Dave leaned his head back and finished what little remained in his beer bottle. He put the bottle down and began to spin it on the coffee table. As he thought about Roger's death, his emotions began to stir. He felt his heart pounding and his blood pressure rising. He was about to have an outburst. A few seconds later he picked up the bottle and threw it at his bedroom door, the sound of the glass shattering pierced the cold, silent night. Shards from the devastating impact began to hurl towards him. His reaction to the flying transparent blades was sluggish from all the alcohol he had during the day. A few pieces hit his face, causing tiny lacerations.

"Dammit", he said quietly as he touched them lightly. He let out a deep sigh as he stood up and began to make his way towards his bedroom to sleep, careful not to step on the bits of glass that now blanketed the floor near his door, another problem for tomorrow.

He approached the door, failing to avoid the glass as he stepped on a few shards causing cuts under his bare feet. He then heard his cell phone ring. He cursed under his breath as he realized he'd left his cell on the end table next to the couch. He slowly made his way towards the phone, this time not caring about the bits of glass continuing to cut him as he walked. He also had to wade through a sea of various beer cans & liquor bottles that littered the floor, evidence of his continued use of alcohol to numb his pain. He reached the phone and squinted his eyes at the caller id display. He couldn't make out what it said so he just decided to answer it.

"Hel..*Cough*…Hello?" He said weakly.

"Dave, it's me. We need to talk. Meet me downstairs now."

…

_Leave reviews!_


	2. An Old Friend

_I'm beginning to find my rhythm with this story. please R&R!_

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**Chapter Two –An Old Friend…**

"Wha…what? Who Is this…?" Dave managed to choke out.

"Meet me downstairs…now."

The line went dead. He stood there holding the phone to his ear, shocked and at a loss for words. Could it be? No it couldn't…

Dave quickly rushed to the front door, wincing in pain as the bits of glass that were now embedded underneath his foot continued to slice at the skin. Kicking more beer bottles out of his way, he stumbled over to grab his leather coat that reeked of alcohol from and made his way out the door, not bothering to put his shoes on. He wobbled towards the elevator at the end of the corridor when the door of his neighbor opened slightly, causing him to stop in his tracks.

"Is everything alright Dave? I thought I heard glass breaking".

A frail & gentle woman, well into her 70's, slowly stepped outside into the poorly lit corridor, accompanied by her small Labrador retriever who huddled near her legs. She looked up at the larger man, concern playing across her face.

"Everything's fine Mrs. Beckman. I just accidentally broke something. It's fine."

Dave kept his head down, anxious to quickly calm Mrs. Beckman's worries so he could continue his trip downstairs. "Well ok I just thoug— Dave dear, have you been drinking?" Mrs. Beckman asked surprised.

Dave coughed dryly. "Um yeah, just a little."

"Well from the scent that you're giving off, I'd say it's a bit more than just 'A Little'."

Dave started to twiddle his thumbs, uncomfortable with the way Mrs. Beckman was now hounding him. She had known that something was bothering Dave for some time now. He avoided talking to her about it, and she respected his privacy. Mrs. Beckman was happy to have a man like Dave living next door to her. She lived alone with her dog Cheddar ever since her husband was hospitalized 3 years ago. She felt safe knowing that a strong, caring FBI Agent was just a holler away if she needed anything. He's also helped her occasionally around her home with repairs and some light shopping. She didn't want to alienate him in anyway so she didn't pursue her suspicions.

"I um…I just…." Dave mumbled.

"It's ok. I won't pester you any further. Just make sure you stay safe ok dear?" Mrs. Beckman smiled up brightly at him.

"OK. I'll see you later".

Dave quickly weaved his way between Mrs. Beckman and Cheddar, who was now roaming the hallway excitedly.

Mrs. Beckman called for Cheddar so they could go back inside; the corridor was far too cold for her liking. As Cheddar ran inside she began to follow suit when she noticed Dave wasn't wearing any shoes. She'd also noticed that the carpet near her was now stained with bits of blood.

"Oh dear", Mrs. Beckman said quietly to herself, covering her mouth with her hand. And with that she made her way inside and closed the door.

Dave reached the elevator and quickly pressed the service button. He stood there waiting for the lift to reach his floor. Anxiety was building up so much that he nearly darted towards the stairs instead of waiting for the elevator. The pain in his feet caused him to rethink that idea. The metal doors finally opened and he swiftly stepped inside the mobile room and pressed the ground floor button a few times. The doors closed and he began to make his decent.

"Dammit hurry up!" He yelled. He looked up at the ceiling, blinding himself with the bright lights that hung above, still in an intoxicated state.

'It can't be him…It just can't', He thought to himself. His heart rate had increased and adrenaline surged throughout his body. His mind was alert and active, partly because of the sharp pain he continued to feel from his bare feet. A few seconds later the elevator halted and the doors opened. He didn't wait for them to open completely; He attempted to squeeze his way through the small opening. Standing now in the nearly abandoned lobby, He quickly looked around franticly but could not find the body that belonged to the voice on the phone.

'He must be outside!' He said to himself.

Dave, now ignoring his physical anguish, raced towards the front entrance and parted the doors open. He was quickly paralyzed by the frigidness of the air that met his body. Los Angeles had been unseasonable cold this week. He regained himself and spotted a silhouette of a man to his right. Beams of light from oncoming cars disoriented his vision. The man stood there, smoking what appeared to be a cigar, checking his watch and surveying the traffic. Dave slowly advanced towards the man, careful in his approach, as if to avoid shattering what could possibly be a hallucination. As he neared the smaller man, still blinded by the lights shining in his eyes, the man spoke.

"Good to see you again Dave…"

…

_Sorry for the cliffhanger. I think it's a perfect way to end this chapter. Leave reviews, no matter how short._


	3. LEAVE ME ALONE!

_Thanks for the reviews. Keep em coming. A Bit of strong language in this chapter people. You've been warned…_

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**Chapter Three****–****LEAVE ME ALONE!**

Dave's heart sank into a pool of frustration and disappointment as he stood before the man who gave him a glimmer of hope that had now died a silent death.

'How… how could I have been so stupid?' Dave thought to himself, appearing lifeless in contrast to the animation and vibrancy of the world surrounding him. 'I'm so pathetic! Look at what I've been reduced to. A drunken bastard who believed for a moment that his partner…'

Dave's internal dialog was cut-off by the now curious person in front of him who began to speak, surveying him with concern.

"Dave? Did you hear me? I said it's nice to see you". He waved his hands in front of Dave's eyes to try and get a reaction.

"Yeah Jackson I heard you." Dave's realization that the body that stood before him was not of his slain partner Roger Carrigan, but of a former colleague of his, Special Agent Jackson Walker, felt like a ton of bricks slamming into him. He wondered how he could have been so naïve to think that Roger was alive and had reached out to him, months after his death. He watched the man die before his eyes.

"Good. Hey why are you barefoot for? It's fucking cold as hell out here and you look like a mess. I knew I should have checked up on you sooner." Jackson said, shaking his head. "God you reek of booze, your hair is a mess, you look like you haven't shaven in weeks…"

Dave became furious. "Look Jackson, I didn't come all the way down here to hear you bitch about how I look OK? So what the hell do you want?"

"Calm down big guy. I just-"

"You just what? Came here to 'Check up on me?' Half the fucking bureau has already checked up on me. I wish you all would just leave me the hell alone. I'm fine. I don't need anyone asking me every 5 minutes if I'm ok." Dave was now becoming irate and starting pacing around the deserted sidewalk.

"Look Dave. I'm sorry that you're hurting over Roger's death, but you can't keep blaming yourself. It wasn't your fault."

"YOU DON'T KNOW THAT! YOU WEREN'T THERE! I WAS THE ONE WHO TALKED HIM INTO MOVING IN WITHOUT ANY RECONN AND WE GOT FUCKING AMBUSHED! I FUCKED UP!" Dave yelled, spit flying from his mouth.

"DAMMIT DAVE! Lower your voice, your attracting attention." Jackson said through closed teeth, trying to calm the larger man down. He reached his arm out and placed a hand on Dave's shoulder.

"Does it look like I fucking care? Let em look. Let them take a good look at the man who got his partner killed in the line of duty because of his own carelessness." He knocked Jackson's hand off and continued to pace back & forth, His breathing now shallow and forced.

"Dave listen to me, you have to get yourself some help. Talk to a grief counselor or something."

"Goodbye Jackson." Dave turned and began to storm off in the opposite direction. He'd had enough.

"DAVE WAIT!" Jackson began to sprint after him, twitching lightly as the cold blast of air whooshed across his face as he ran. He caught up with Dave as he was about to open the door to the lobby.

"Dave…I didn't come here…to upset you. I came…here to talk to you about…something, something else." Jackson was winded from chasing Dave.

Dave stopped and kept his head forward as he contemplated on whether to hear Jackson out or not. He surly wasn't in the mood to further be scrutinized by him, but was curious as to what Jackson wanted to talk about other than Roger's death. Or him for that matter.

"What is it?" Dave said annoyed, turning around to face Jackson.

"Look, I know you got this self-guilt thing going on-"

"Bye Jackson"

"WAIT! Sorry bout that. Anyways I think you should hear me out about this. I know you were fired from the Bureau. You're probably looking for a new job right?"

"I don't need your help or pity Jackson. I can take care of myself."

"Like hell you can. Just look at how prim and pressed you are. Full of joy and everything." Dave crossed his arms, becoming increasing heated.

"OK, OK, OK! Sorry. God I don't know when to shut up."

"Got that right."

"Oh yeah ha ha very funny."

"Dammit Jackson!"

"OK. Dave I do have a job for you, well more like I have a referral of sorts. There's this place that I want you to come to with me, tomorrow."

"No", Dave replied, turning around to open the door. He ignored the pleas for him to stay and continued to the elevator. He stood there as he waited for the doors to open.

"Dave, listen to me. I really think you would be good for this job, not to mention the job will be good for you. You've been bottled up in your apartment for weeks now; you only get out when you need a damn drink."

"I'm not working private security like other agents who get laid off so forget it." The elevator doors opened and Dave stepped in and quickly pressed the button for the 6th floor. Jackson swiftly made his way into the elevator with him, further frustrating the already irritated Dave. Jackson was oblivious to how much Dave was restraining his anger. He didn't want to go off on the slightly older, balding Hispanic agent as he had a ton of respect for him. Everyone at the Bureau did. His fuse was becoming shorter by the second.

"It's not private security. It's Law Enforcement, case solving. Just like back at the Bureau. In fact, you'll be doing most of the things you've been doing at the Bureau."

"Oh yeah Jackson? How so? Cause if I remember correctly, being fired from the FBI isn't really something other law enforcement agencies look too kindly on." Dave said mockingly.

"Technically you were suspended, but whatever. And FYI it isn't another Law Enforcement agency. If anything you'd be working for the FBI again. Sort of…" Jackson trailed off.

Dave reached out and pressed the Emergency Stop button on the panel in front of him. Jackson jumped at the jerk of the elevator coming to a screeching halt.

"What do you mean I'd be 'sort of working for the FBI again'?"

Jackson took a deep breath and placed his hands on his hips, His calm demeanor now slightly tense.

"Dave, have you ever heard of something called 'The Unit'?"

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_I feel like writing more so Chapter 4 should be up shortly after this._


	4. Believe It

_OK The story starts to really pickup here. The Dave angst will start to relieve I promise!_

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**Chapter Four –****Believe It**

"The What?" Dave asked, clearly intrigued. His rage was slowly being replaced by curiosity.

"Bear with me OK cause this is a lot to take in. About 40 years ago, this scientific research company called Kelencine began pondering the idea of…humans being capable of supernatural abilities. The thing is Dave… they actually proved it. In fact, they more than just proved it; they developed a way to unlock these abilities in people, people with actual psychic abilities!"

"What? Jackson don't screw with me. I swear… "

"Dave I'm not screwing with you! Listen to me. Back in the 60s—"

"When people believed in UFO landings and little green aliens?"

"Yeah Dave back then." Jackson rolled his eyes and continued. "It was rumored that the government somehow found out what Kelencine was up to and helped to facilitate their research. Kelencine came up with a theory that certain people had special brain architecture different from other human beings. People with this special brain architecture were believed to be capable of exhibiting psychic abilities. There were tests and experiments conducted to try and unlock these abilities within people who fit the criteria, which the government also allowed Kelencine to do. There are rumors that the government even helped Kelencine located these unique individuals."

"This is crazy", Dave began. "And you're the one saying that I need help?" He reached his arm forward to disengage the emergency stop button, but Jackson stepped forward to block his path.

"Dave I'm telling you the truth! If you come with me tomorrow, I'll prove it."

"Go with you were exactly? You're trying to tell me that our government has been allowing some private sector company to experiment on people to try and make them psychic? For what?"

"Dave…"

"Look, it's late and I'm tired. Now move out of my way."

Jackson stepped aside and Dave pressed the emergency stop button. Their bodies jerked as the elevator proceeded to continue upwards towards the 6th floor. Both Dave and Jackson remained silent during the rest of the ride.

As the metal doors opened, Jackson reached into his pocket and handed Dave a piece of paper.

"Look if you change your mind, give me a call. I'll be waiting. Not like you got anything better to do."

"Whatever". Dave took the paper and walked out of the elevator and towards his apartment. Jackson watched the big guy leave. He sighed as he pressed the ground floor button and leaned on the guard rail behind him.


	5. Turning Point

_Just an FYI Deputy Director Arnold Kane isn't "Kane"…_

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**Chapter Five – Turning Point**

As Dave approached his apartment door, he turned his head slightly to catch a glimpse of Jackson, who appeared disappointed, holding his head down and stared at the floor below him as the elevator doors closed. Dave didn't care. Jackson had a lot of nerve showing up at Dave's apartment building, offering him a job, especially since it was partly his fault Dave was fired from the FBI…

…

_"Dave…" a small hand rested upon Dave's broad shoulder as he sat behind his Cherry Oak desk in his office, his head resting in his arms, appearing to be asleep. The room was darken by thick black curtains Dave had bought to keep the sunlight out as it began to bothered him. All that illuminated his office was a small green lap that sat atop his desk. Dave mumbled and rose up, his eyes bloodshot and tired. His appearance was hardly award-winning. He'd let his head & facial hair grow out a bit and looked like he hadn't slept in days. He didn't care about his physical appearance. The female that had awoken him was hit by a wave of alcohol as Dave yawned in her direction._

_"Yeah Amber?"_

_"Kane wants to see you in his office"._

_"Fine". Dave leaned back down and rested his head on his desk again, not caring about the summons that was just given to him._

_"Dave?"_

_"WHAT?"_

_"Kane wants to see you, now."_

_"Dammit what the hell does he want now?" Deputy Director Kane had been on Dave's back recently, due to his increasingly erratic behavior out in the field as well as during office hours at the bureau. After Roger's death, Dave slowly became more distant and aggressive towards his colleagues and criminal suspects alike._

_Dave rubbed his eyes with the back of his arm and slowly stood up. Amber stared with concern as Dave made his way from behind his desk. He walked passed her, barely acknowledging her presence. She, like many at the bureau had been worried about Dave. They would try and reach out to him, only to be rejected harshly. They tried talking to him, offering to help him in any way, even making visits to his apartment but Dave wasn't having any of it. He wish everyone would get off his case and leave him be._

_Dave walked through the open office area, being greeted by roaming eyes full of concern, curiosity, and even hurt._

_"Fuck em", Dave thought to himself, giving them a fierce glance back. When he arrived at Kane's door, he made no attempt for pleasantries and barged right in. A wave of confusion came over him as he saw sitting opposite Kane his recently newly appointed partner Agent Jackson Walker._

_"What the hell is this?" Dave said with a hint of anger in his voice, desperately trying to mask the small bit of fear he was now feeling. Dave knew what this 'Meeting' was about. 'Damn you Jackson for ratting me out', he thought._

_Earlier that week, Dave & Jackson went to interview a pedophile suspected of raping 3 children in 2 different states. As soon as they reached his home, Dave flew into a rage and began to assault the 56 year old man, punching him in the ribs as well as threatening more bodily harm. Jackson pleaded for Dave to stop, but he ignored him._

_"I think you know what this is about Dave…" Kane said, crossing his arms. Dave bit his lip._

_"Yeah, I think I do." He said and shot a stare at Jackson, who in response shifted nervously in his seat and put his head down, staring at the floor below him._

_"Well then what are we gonna do about it? Wait, before you answer let me hear your side of the story."_

_"Why? You're gonna fire me anyway."_

_"DAMN RIGHT I AM! WHAT THE HELL WHERE YOU THINKING BATISTA? ASSAULTING A SUSPECT?"_

_"HE'S A FUCKING PEDOPHILE THAT RAPED 3 CHILDREN!"_

_"I don't care if he's Hitler we don't fucking assault suspects!"_

_"Well I know you wouldn't. You're a pussy Kane, always following the fucking rules right? Oh wait no you don't. You know I always wondered if your selfish request to keep the Hanson kid's investigation a secret may have lead to…"_

_"Don't you dare lay that on me."_

_"WHY NOT? YOU DIDN'T GIVE US ANY ADDITIONAL MANPOWER THAT NIGHT TO BEGIN WITH. 'YOU TWO CAN HANDLE IT ALL ON YOUR OWN' YOU SAID."_

_"Dave…"_

_"NO FUCK YOU KANE!" Dave shouted and looked at Jackson once again before he stormed out of the office. He headed towards his office to get his things when Jackson's voice rang in his ear._

_"Dave wait."_

_Dave stopped and turned around quickly, diving at Jackson. He put his massive hand around the agent's throat and pushed him again the wall. A few onlookers stared in horror._

_"You know what Jackson, I'm gonna let that slide, but if you try and stop me from going anywhere again… trust me you won't want to do that." He released his grip and continued to his office. _

_Dave had further sunk into the dark hole he created for himself…_

…

He opened his apartment door and was immediately hit by a cloud of old booze that still lingered inside. He sighed and walked in. He headed towards the bathroom for the first-aid kit to remove the embedded glass in his feet, knocking over beer bottles as he walked. He opened the cabinet doors under the bathroom sink and pulled the kit out, resting it on the counter. He sat down on the toilet and lifted one of his legs to get a look at the glass.

"Dammit" He said looking at the damage that he'd allowed to happen. He began to remove the glass with a pair of tweezers. After all the glass was gone, he cleaned the lacerations and bandaged them. As he worked on his feet he thought about his encounter with Jackson. He felt guilty for lashing out at him. He knew Jackson meant well, but Dave was so far gone he didn't know where to turn or how to ask for help. He sat up and headed to his bed to sleep. As he lied down he began to cry tears that stung his eyes. He was tired of the pity and angst that had overcome him these past couple of months. He was ready for a change. After 10 minutes of crying, he finally came to a decision.

He reached over and grabbed his coat. He reached in the pocket and pulled out a card with a phone number on it. He got his phone and dialed the number.

"Hello?" The voice said on the other end, the voice he couldn't believe he'd mistaken for his fallen partner.

"Jackson it's me, what time should I be ready tomorrow?"


	6. Bliss

_This chapter is pure smut. Hope you enjoy_

**Chapter ****Six**** – ****Bliss**

"What the hell have I gotten myself into?" Dave asked himself as he sat up from his bed and peered at the alarm clock on the night stand to his left. 8:23am it read as it continued to go off. He sat up and turned the alarm off. He'd began to ponder If accepting Jackson's offer was a good idea. He'd already benefited from it in some way though. He had the best sleep in months, as if accepting the offering lifted a piece of the dark cloud that surrounded his mind. He covered his mouth and yawned, stretched his arms and arose from his bed. He'd stripped down last night before going to sleep and wore nothing but tight black boxer shorts, exposing his well shaped arms, broad shoulders, tight torso and toned legs.

As he walk toward the bathroom he winced in pain as the cuts on his feet still stung. The pain became bearable has he continued to head to the bathroom. Once he arrived at the shower door, he took off the last bit of clothing that remained on his body and stepped in. He turned the water on and gasped at the blast of cold water that ran down his front side. He backed away from the shower head until the water warmed up and sighed at the warmth of the water that now rained down on him. He picked up a bar of soap and began to lather himself, suds oozing down his body. He reached down to adjust the water temperature to make the water hotter.

As the hot water streaming down on him started to relax his aching body he began to feel slightly aroused. He didn't know why and didn't care to find out as he began to slowly caress his semi-hard cock with the bar of soap. He used his free hand to tug at his nipples, becoming further aroused as they too hardened. He rinsed off the thick layer of soap from his crotch area and turned around, bent over and let the hot water run from his back and into between his ass cheeks. He moaned with pleasure at the feeling of the water cascading down his crack, blanketing his virgin opening with warmth. He stayed there for a good 5 minutes before standing up and rinsing his entire body.

He didn't want to waste this opportunity to improve his lax personal hygiene so he quickly bathed himself before going back to pleasuring himself. He put the soap bar down and started to stroke his weeping member, closing his eyes and throwing his head back. He hadn't masturbated in weeks and was shocked at how good it felt. He sat down on the built-in bench inside the shower and continued to jerk his cock while cupping his testacies with his left hand. He held his eyes closed and thought about his past encounters with the few men he'd been with. Dave way gay and didn't have a problem with it. He was comfortable in his skin and made no efforts to hide his sexuality.

As he continued to pump his dick that felt like steel in his hand, he thought about one guy in particular at the Bureau he'd encountered a few years ago. His name was Kevin, an intern. He was around 22 Years Old when they met. Dave's mouth watered as the thought about him, sleek & slender frame, boyish looks and messy blond hair. He'd imagined that Kevin was still a virgin from the way he carried himself. He was shy and nervous around Dave, possibly from his size, but Dave liked to think that maybe it was because he thought Dave was sexy.

Dave lifted his legs and rested his feet on either side of the bench with his knees bent, leaning back against the wall. He moaned as this was a better position and he began to feel more pleasure. He continued to fantasize about Kevin. He imagined how tight his cherry was and how much it turned him on if he was Kevin's first. The look on his face when Dave would enter him slowly. Dave licked his lips at the thought of the warmth of that tight hole, holding back the urge to cum inside of Kevin as he thrust himself inside deeper.

A few seconds later, Dave began to feel himself about to climax. He leaned further backwards as he furiously pumped his throbbing cock and shuttered in delight as he shot jets of cum into the air that landed on his stomach and thighs. He gathered himself and turned off the shower. For the 1st time in a while he'd felt great. He'd imagined that this was only temporary, but he didn't care For that small moment, he was in pure bliss…


	7. The Call

_Short chapter. Please R+R_

**Chapter ****Seven – The Call**

Dave stepped out of the shower and walked over to the sink. He wiped away the steam that blanketed the mirror, revealing a month's worth of un-kept head & facial hair. His much needed hair cut could wait, however he desperately needed to take care of the facial hair. After all he wanted to make a good impression for his new 'Employers'. He rinsed his face with hot water and then lathered the beard with shaving cream. He gave a half smile as he began to take the razor to his face, slowly removing bits of hair at a time. He rinsed his razor off in the sink and began to steal looks at himself in the mirror at the results.

'Back to my old self I guess', He thought even though he knew this was far from the truth. Dave still had a long way to go before he would feel better, but for now he is enjoying the high he's currently on and doesn't want it to go away.

He finished shaving and then put on some Old Spice Aftershave & Antiperspirant and brushed his teeth. He cleaned the hairy mess around the sink and grabbed a towel to dry his wet body. He wrapped the towel around his waist and went back in his bedroom to fetch some clothes. In his dresser he picked out a skin-tight, black long-sleeve shirt, Navy Blue jeans and a pair of stripped boxer shorts. He put them on and then looked for some clean socks. He sat at the edge of his bed and slipped on his socks & shoes and began to think about his decision.

"Is this what I really want to do? I mean c'mon, psychics? Please. More like nutjobs who THINK they can predict the future. Jackson better be telling the truth about this. I swear he's gonna get his ass kick if he's not".

In Dave's mind however, he sensed that Jackson was in fact telling the truth and was curious to see what Jackson had to offer. He stared blankly at the dresser in front of him for a good 10 minutes before a loud ringing was heard from behind him. His cell phone was vibrating on the night stand. He dashed for it and looked at the caller id display;

'Unknown Caller (000) 000-000'

He answered it with hesitation.

"Hel- *cough* Hello?"

The voice on the other end wasn't neither man nor female, but of a digitally altered voice.

"At your front door there is a package. Open it"

"Who the hell is this?! Jackson is that you? I swear man-"

"Go to your front door and open the package now"

"Who is thi-"

*Click*

The line went dead and Dave stood their stunned.

…


	8. The Note

_I've decided to incorporate some other WWE superstars into the story. Read to find out if your fav made the list!_

**Chapter Eight – The Note**

"Dammit!" Dave shouted in frustration as he put his phone away and stood up. He put his head in his hands, sighing as he headed to the front door.

"What have I gotten myself into?" He asked himself.

As he arrived at the front door he paused for a brief moment. His mind began to race with obscure thoughts about what could be waiting for him. He'd eventually would have to leave his apartment sooner or later he though. With this in mind, he took the plunge and opened the door to discover a manila envelope resting on the right side of the wall adjacent to his door. He carefully picked it up and opened it. A small note was all that was inside. He rotated the piece of paper to check for any writing on the back. He turned it back around and read the note out loud:

_Go to Avondale Industrial Park near the oil fields_

"Avondale Park?" He said with uncertainty. He remembered going there on multiple occasions with Agent Carrigan to speak with informants. It was an abandon place where both parties felt safe to discuss confidential information. He took the note and placed it back in the envelope and headed towards the elevator.

As he reached his SUV in the public parking garage he turned around to see if anyone was following him. When he was sure that wasn't the case he got into the vehicle and drove off towards Avondale Industrial Park.

***

When he reached the oil fields, he saw no one else was there. He got out of his vehicle and began to canvas the area. The sun's rays began to irritate his eyes so he slipped on his Dolce & Gabana Sunglasses. After a good 10 minutes of waiting for something to happen, he became fed up.

"Fuck this I'm leaving" He said as he headed towards the SUV. As he opened the door, he felt his phone vibrating in his pocket. He reached down and flung it open.

_Unknown Caller 000-000-0000_

"Who the hell is this? Where are you?!" He screamed to the silence on the other end.

"Turn Around" the muffled voice said.

He swerved around to find a tall blonde staring him in the face. He hung up his phone and positioned himself to ask who the mysterious woman was. Before he could get a chance to she pulled out a taser gun and tasered Dave with it. The big man fell backwards and hit his head on the side of the car. He stared up into the sky and darkness began to overcome him.

…

_How exciting! Wonder who this mysterious woman is…_


	9. The Room

_I've decided to incorporate some other WWE superstars into the story. Read to find out if your fav made the list!__ This chapter is a 2-point of view type writing so keep up _

**Chapter Nine – The Room**

"What the..."

Dave awoken to find himself handcuffed to a table in a darken room with a bullet-proof glass window in front of him. The room reminded him of the interrogation rooms at the bureau. His head hurt like hell and he couldn't remember how he gotten here. He quickly scanned the room for clues, but nothing seemed out of the norm.

"WHERE THE HELL AM I?!?" He screamed as he began to bang his fists on the table as hard as he could to grab the attention of whoever was holding him hostage. He tried to stand up but found that the cuffs limited his movements. He sat back down and continued to shout.

"WHEN I GET FREE OF THESE I'M GONNA START KICKING ASS!"

After a good ten minutes of his tantrum, the door to the room began to open…

***

After the large man fell backwards and hit his head, The female got on her cell phone and began to dial a number.

"Yeah?" Said a voice on the other line.

"He's out cold, move in" She said in a thick French accent. She put her phone away and awaited the arrival of her team. She looked at Batista as he laid on the dirt, knocked out. She bent down and removed his sunshades.

"How lovely" She said sarcastically. A few seconds later a black van centered in on them and 2 men stepped out.

"Damn you did a number on him didn't you?" One of the men said chuckling.

"JUST GET HIM IN THE VAN!" The female shouted to which the men responded. They picked him up and proceeded to take him to the van. They laid him inside the back and closed the doors. The female sat in front with the driver, another male.

"Where too?" The driver asked.

"Do not play these games Adam. You know where"

"Sure thing" Adam said as he cranked on the van and drove off.

"What about his car?"

"We'll pick it up later" Said the female.

They arrived at a large building lined with windows. Adam Copeland drove the van into a hidden parking garage near some shrubs. The van arrived at a security checkpoint and Adam swiped a blank white card and entered in a 5-digit combination code into the keypad. After the code was accepted, they continued into the parking garage. The van neared an elevator and both men in the back stepped out, hauling Dave with them.

"Glenn, Randy get him in the elevator and put him into the talking room"

"Fine" said Randy Orton. He and Glenn dragged Batista into the elevator. When they got inside, Randy reached and pressed a button on the panel. The button was labeled "B5".

"So..." Adam began.

"So what?" Said the female.

"So when are we getting paid?" Adam asked impatiently.

"You will be receiving money soon. Now Let us retrieve the vehicle shall we?"

"Look Maryse--"

"NO you look. I don't have time for these games K? You care so much about payment, you speak to DeWitt, not me got it?" Maryse said.

"Fine" Said Adam. He grunted and got back into the van with Maryse as they drove back to collect Dave's SUV.

***

"I see you are awake." Said Maryse as she entered the dark, steel-lined room.

"Who the hell are you? Where's Jackson?!" Dave said in a demanding tone.

"He'll be here shortly. For now you'll listen to me. I'll explain everything.

…


	10. Decision

_Also sorry if this chapter seems a bit rushed. I want to go ahead to move forward to get to the DavexOFC partnership/relationship hehe._

**Chapter Ten – Decision**

"WHAT?!" Dave shouted. He continued to shake his cuffs as if by sheer strength he could unlock them.

"I said calm down! Besides where will you go if you were to be released from here hmm? Back to drinking your ass off at a sleazy bar? Or perhaps moving forward to the next step with the drug experimentation." Maryse said with a slight hint of sarcasm in her voice.

"You don't know a damn thing about me lady so I suggest you hush." Dave said in anger.

"Oh but I know lots about you Mr. David Michael Batista. Care to look?" Maryse said as he slid a manila envelope towards Dave. He picked it up and began to scan the documents inside. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. The folder contained information about Dave's entire life, from the hospital he was born in all the way to his recent firing. It's as if they've dug up his entire history for this confrontation, whatever it was.

"Why in the hell do you have all of this?" He said.

"Because Mr. Batista we wish to... recruit you into our organization. Your friend Agent Jackson has told us many great things about you, and looking at your file--"

"You mean the dossier you put together on me?" Dave asked"

"Oooh Comment intriguant d'entre vous!"

"Look, just tell me what you're trying to sell so I can get the hell out of here." Dave said impatiently.

"Fine" Maryse said. "But you first need to know what this place is and what we are trying to accomplish.

Dave shifted in his chair, crossing his arms.

"NO INTERRUPTIONS!" Maryse shouted as she began.

"Years ago, Kelencine came across a discovery, that humans are being capable of supernatural abilities. They found test subjects and voila over 85% of the subjects exhibited supernatural like abilities. They decided to help the US government solve cold-case crimes using test subjects who volunteered to stay with the organization. Now comes your part my dear."

Dave was stunned by what he was hearing. 'People can't have supernatural abilities' he though to himself. 'it's... just not possible'.

"OK so what about me?" Dave asked.

"Well first I must inform you about 'The Dollhouse'."

"Wha--" Dave began.

"Silence!" Maryse spat out. She got up from her chair and started to stalk around the room.

"The Dollhouse is a code name for our place of business, however we refer to ourselves as 'The Unit'."

"Yeah Jackson told me about The Unit. What about me?"

"You will be one of our Handlers, paired up with one of our 'Actives' or 'Dolls' as some people refer to them as."

"Why me?" Dave asked. He was curious to know why Jackson recommended him for this job. Dave was a wreck and everyone knew it, including this mystery woman. He wasn't in any position to be anyone's handler.

"Because we believe you will be a great candidate. We're usually right about these things. Now hands out so I can uncuff you." Maryse grabbed Dave's hands so she could undo his handcuffs. As soon as she did, Dave quickly stood up and walked over to the door.

"Just remember David dear," Maryse began. "We'll be calling you soon. In the meantime we want you to visit this address tomorrow at 7am sharp." She handed Dave a card stock.

"Where is this?" Dave asked.

"You'll soon find out. Someone will be expecting you." Maryse gestured for Dave to exit the room. Dave took in a deep breath as he opened the door and...

**ZAP!**

Once again, Dave was tasered, this time by Randy. He fell backwards and hit his head on the hard floor, drawing a bit of blood.

"Take him back to his apartment." Maryse said.

"You sure this guy will be a perfect fit for Lincoln? I mean he's already been through like several handlers."

"DeWitt insisted this partnership will work. Now take him away"

Randy cough as he dragged Dave's body from the room.

**

Dave awoken to find himself in his bed, head hurting and a bandage on a small cut on the back of his head. He rubbed it and began to curse. After he regained himself, he looked on his beds tand and saw the card Maryse handed him.

_**4577 Vestavia Ln.**_

"Great" he said. "A new job opportunity.

…

_OK its going to get real good after this! :hyper:_


	11. Active

_Dave and his destined partner meet for the 1__st__ time _

**Chapter Eleven – Active**

After being tasered by Maryse and placed into his bed as if nothing happened, Dave decided to just fall back to sleep til it was time to go to his scheduled destination. His sleep was surprisingly satisfying. He was out for a good 10 hours before his alarm clock rang suddenly in his ear. He slammed it hard with his massive hand and got up for a shower.

He undressed and turn on the hot water. As the water began to splash off his skin, He wondered what was waiting for him at 4577 Vestavia Ln. He assumed it was a residential address. A person perhaps?

"What the hell are they trying to get me to do?" He said out loud. He decided to play this thing out, do his own investigation.

After his shower and everything else, he went to go put some clothes on, have a light breakfast and walked out of his apartment, ready to meet with whatever he was about to face. As he left his apartment, he spotted Mrs. Beckman, along with Cheddar, inside the elevator.

"HOLD THE DOOR!" Shouted Dave as he rushed towards them.

Mrs. Beckman obliged and put her walker in front of the sliding doors, keeping them from closing.

"Well hello there David" Said Mrs. Beckman smiling.

"Hi Mrs. Beckman, hey Cheddar" Dave said, smiling at both of them.

"Well now you look nice. Where you headed too dear? Asked Mrs. Beckman

"I um...have a new job" Dave said uneasily as he looked down at the floor.

"Oh wow! That is wonderful! I'm so happy for you." Mrs. Beckman removed her walker from the door and pressed the Lobby button on the elevator panel.

"So what about you?" Asked Dave

"Ooh Cheddar and I are going to the park this morning. Lovely day the weatherman on the tv said it would be."

As the elevator doors opened at the lobby, Cheddar and Mrs. Beckman headed towards the revolving door.

"Bye now David. Have a great 1st day at work!" Mrs. Beckman yelled as the elevator doors closed. Dave pressed the P1 button for the parking garage just a level below the apartment building.

As the doors opened to show a dark-lit garage, Dave headed for his SUV, which by his surprise was in the same place it was yesterday.

"Hmm" He said to himself. He headed to his vehicle and climbed in. Another Manila envelope was waiting for him on the dashboard. He quickly opened it and read the note inside:

"Your active's name is Lincoln Buros." it read.

"That's it? Just a name?" Dave asked himself. "Fuck"

He started the car after entering the address he was given yesterday in his GPS Navigation and headed out.

"hmm" He said. He'd been driving for over 10 minutes and was approaching the house. He entered the small suburban community and saw dozens of beautifully placed houses, each giving off their own story. As he continued down the road to locate his destination, he spotted a man briskly walking his dog. He turned to catch a glance at them. He set his eyes forward and continued until his GPS lit up and indicated he'd reached his destination. He looked at the house, big and spacious, lined with perfectly manicured shrubs and bright red double doors. He parked on the curb of the street and got out of his vehicle. He put his shades on and walked along the cobblestone path to the front door, careful not to step on the lush green grass.

He approached the door and rang the bell. No answer. He waited 30 seconds before ringing it again. Still no answer or detectable movement inside the house. He banged his fists on the door and peered inside through the glass on the door. No one appeared to be home he thought to himself. He stood at the door waiting for a sign of life inside the 2 story, recently built home.

"A man making 6 figures has to live here" he said.

As he continued to wait, a wet substance began to line the back of his right leg, then some chewing occurred.

"Fuck!" he shouted as he jumped and turned around. It was the dog from the sidewalk. He noticed the apparent owner, a young african-american male running towards them.

"SORRY ABOUT THAT!" He shouted as went for the dog and pulled him away from Dave.

"He gets a bit ancy when he see's someone new in the neighborhood." The younger man said smiling.

"That's OK I guess" Dave said.

"You know." The man began. "I hear the person that lives here is a bit weary of newcomers as well. He's all you know, suspicious and what not. That's probably why he hasn't answer the door yet."

"Is that so?" Dave asked. "Should I knock harder?"

"NO! That won't do any good in my opinion. You should just wait."

"I've been waiting for over 10 minutes. He should have answered by now." Dave said annoyed.

"You're right. Guess he's being a jerk today." The jogger said.

"Tell ya what. Why don't you try once again. I'll bet he'll answer this time."

"Fine" Dave said looking at the man. He turned around and rung the door bell once more. 30 Seconds passed and no answer.

"Well he's not going to answer so I gone. Fuck this new job. I could be at home doing nothing right now, but no Jackson had to rear his ass my direction and force me to take this crazy gig. I should have said no."

Dave began to walk down the path when he heard a voice.

"But Dave if you hadn't had listened to your friend, then you wouldn't have been introduced to The Unit, or have met me and Chaz here."

Dave stopped dead in his tracks and swirled around quickly.

"What?" He asked.

…

_OK its going to get real good after this! :hyper:_


	12. Lincoln

**Chapter Twelve – Lincoln**

"What did you just say?" Dave said surprised as he turned around. The only person he saw before him was the man in the tracksuit and his dog.

"I said Dave--"

"How do you know my name?!?" Dave demanded. He cautiously took steps towards the man.

"Well... maybe it has to do with the fact that my name is Lincoln, Lincoln Buros, and you my friend are my new handler correct?"

Dave just stood there with a blank stare on his face. He didn't know what to say. This slender man pulled one on him, a rare event indeed.

"I um... uh" Dave stammered.

"Look, why don't you come inside and we'll talk. Besides I have to get dressed. C'mon Chaz!"

Lincoln pulled out his keys and unlocked the front doors and stepped inside. Dave, still reeling from Lincoln's revelation followed like a zombie. He took a step inside and looked around, it was like a palace he said to himself. Great color scheme, nice miniature statues, a wide staircase. He made his way to what looked like the living room.

"I have to shower, can you watch Chaz for me? I SWEAR he's like the friendliest dog--"

"Sure, sure that's fine" Dave said blankly, his eyes still roaming the room.

"Um...OK. Just you know...make yourself at home." Lincoln said as he headed up the stairs.

"OK" Dave said. He watched as Lincoln rushed up the staircase. After the man disappeared from site he noticed a white couch in the living room. He made his way to it and sat down. Chaz loyally followed. Upstairs Dave heard rushing water, a sign Lincoln was in the shower. He put his hands on his knees and nervously tapped them with his fingers, still scanning the room. He noticed a huge flat-screen television setup in front of him. He picked up what looked like a remote control and attempted to turn the TV on.

"Dammit" He said in frustration. He randomly kept pressing buttons, turning on a stereo system, changing the brightness of the lights, and all sorts of things.

"How do I turn this thing on buddy?" He asked Chaz, who stared blankly back at him.

Dave noticed a huge red button at the bottom of the device.

"I bet this is the button for the television" He said. "Here goes nothing."

He pressed the button and a small hum was heard from the television as it turned on.

"YAY we did it buddy!" He said to Chaz, rubbing the furry space on the canine's head.

Dave manage to change the channel and stopped at at a breaking news story on Channel 3.

"_We have breaking news out today. A 2__nd__ victim was just found strangled to death_

_in the alley way of Jazzes, a local upscale restaurant. Witnesses who came across the_

_body say they saw a suspicious man roaming outside. He was covered up,_

_wearing all black, shades & a hoodie. The family of the victim has yet to speak out._

_The victim has been identified as Kathleen Baker, at 29 year old Nurse from Van Nyes._

Dave turned off the Television. He couldn't listen in anymore. He quickly turn his attention to a wooden glass case in the back corner of the room. He got up and walked over to it. As he neared it, he saw it was an awards case filled with all kinds of certificates, medals and other items.

"_2003 National Science Foundation award for achievement in bio-molecular sciences_" one certificate read.

"Wow" Dave said surprised. He kept looking at the awards when he heard footsteps heading down the stairs. He quickly dashed back to the couch and coaxed Chaz to sit on his lap.

"OK I'm ready to go." Lincoln said. He'd put on a pair of dark blue jeans, a bright orange shirt and black boots. Dave felt overdressed with his stripped black suit and tie.

"Chaz time to go to Mr. Valendeer's house!" said Lincoln as he opened the front door. Chaz quickly ran out and rushed across the street. He was greeted by a man who had his door open. Every day Chaz would go to Mr. Valendeer's house while Lincoln was away. The senior appreciated his company. Lincoln turned his attention to Dave, who was adjusting his suit.

"OK I'm ready to leave, just have to retrieve my bag." Lincoln said as he reached into a closet and picked up a black messenger bag. He walked outside and motioned for Dave to follow. He closed the door and Lincoln armed the security system and headed to Dave's SUV.

"So I'm taking you to work with me? Dave asked.

"Well duh. Were partners aren't we?"

"I guess but I didn't expect--"

"Well you know now. Besides saves gas carpooling, unless I lived twice the distance of you in which it would be better if I drove myself to work, but that's not the case. You live in East Hollywood which isn't far from here and I live--"

"Yeah I get it" Dave said as he cutoff Lincoln. He went to his side of the vehicle and unlocked the doors. Dave got inside when he noticed Lincoln wasn't visible. He quickly got out and noticed the man was laying down on the road, halfway under Dave's vehicle.

"What the hell are you doing?" Dave asked

"I'm checking to see what kind of SUV this is. I assume its a gas guzzler. How awful. Do you know how much these things pollute? Not to mention the safety hazards." Lincoln shot back.

"Look lets just leave OK?" Dave said sighing.

'Boy what a day this is going to be' he said to himself.

...


	13. Thank You For Not Crashing

**Chapter Thirteen – Thank You For Not Crashing**

The morning commute was dreadful and busy as Dave & Lincoln made their way to Kelencine, also known as The Dollhouse for what would undoubtedly be an interesting 1st day for Dave.

"So... what's the deal with you... your abilities I mean" Dave asked nervously. He'd hope his new partner didn't have any mind-reading abilities as Dave wasn't ready to share much about himself yet.

"I'm a level 3 psychic and level 1 clairvoyant." Lincoln said quickly. Dave stared at him confused. "Oh um there are levels to our abilities. There are 4 levels actually, 1 of course being low and 4 high."

"I see" Dave said. "So you must be very powerful then? Being level 3 and all."

"I guess. I would have picked other terms to use such as exceptional or adequate, but powerful is fine."

Dave grunted and he focused his eyes back on the road. He wanted to get to know more about his new partner Lincoln. He seemed nice enough and Dave couldn't help but have a bit of a crush on him. He looked sexy by society's terms, nice lean body, well defined face, nice ass...

"So what about you? Bet your happy about getting your badge and authority back. Oh and the gun."

"Huh?" Dave said exiting abruptly from his fantasy. Shock then came over him.

"WHAT?" Dave asked surprised.

"Oh sorry I almost forgot" Lincoln said as he pulled out a large file and what appeared to be Dave's old badge & gun.

"Where did you get that?" Asked Dave.

"From Paul. He brought it over last night. Said to give it to you when you came over. I forgot. Well anyways here it is!" Lincoln sat the firearm & badge on Dave's lap, causing him to shift slightly. Lincoln's touch on his thigh made him squirm.

"Thanks" Dave said awkwardly. "So what I'm a fed again? And who exactly is Paul?"

"Yes your a fed again and Agent Paul Ballard will be YOUR handler so to speak. He'll guide you through all of this during your 1st month, to get you situated. Don't worry he's great. Nice and considerate." Lincoln said reassuringly.

"So how does this thing work anyway? What will we be doing?" Dave asked. They arrived at a stop sign and no visible cars were in the area. A perfect moment for him to squeeze information out of Lincoln.

"Can't you wait til we get there? All your questions--"

"I need to know now" Dave demanded, staring directly into Lincoln's hazel eyes.

_'God he's so beautiful' Dave thought to himself._

Lincoln crossed his arms.

"You don't scare me you know, HOWEVER I think I can go ahead and tell you what you want to know. It will be just like your old job I assume, solving cases of a homicide nature, only you will be working under the dollhouse's authority and not the FBI."

"Really?" Dave asked quizzically.

"Yes. We are just like the FBI, except no red tape to screw with us"

"What do you mean?"

"Look I told you all that I'm going too. We should get going." Lincoln said as he pointed forward.

Dave sighed and continued to drive.

**

As the approached the Kelencine building, Dave proceeded to park.

"NO buddy, not here, keep driving"

"Why?" Dave asked.

"You'll see" Lincoln said, giving Dave a small smirk.

Dave put his attention to the road again and kept driving. They arrived at a underground parking structure.

"Here! Turn here" Lincoln instructed Dave. He turned and they arrived at an empty parking space. Dave looked over to Lincoln.

"What?" Lincoln asked.

"Is it OK if I park here sir?" Dave asked sarcastically.

"Yes" Lincoln said unamused.

Dave chuckled and parked the vehicle. As they both stepped out Lincoln lead Dave to an elevator with a hand scanner. Lincoln placed his hand on the scanner and the doors open before them. They both stepped inside and Lincoln pressed the only visible button on the touch panel before him. They were lead down a few floors.

"How many underground floors are there?" Dave asked.

"I believe 5, maybe 6" Lincoln replied.

As the elevator doors stopped, Lincoln reached up and placed his hand on Dave's shoulder.

"Don't worry, you'll do fine. I know it." He said smiling up at the larger man.

"Thanks" Dave said smiling back. The elevator doors opened and Dave couldn't believe what he saw standing before him...

...


	14. The Dollhouse

**Chapter Fourteen – The Dollhouse**

"Jackson." Dave stood before Agent Walker, who had his hands in his coat pockets and a smile painted across his face.

"Hello Dave. Glad to see you here. I'm sure you'll going to fit in just right."

"I um… just going to go that way" Lincoln said pointing as he rushed out of the elevator. Dave continued to look at Jackson.

"So David, how are things going with you?" Jackson asked.

"Oh you know" Dave began. "Yesterday someone left me a note at my front door which lead me to the oil fields where I met a woman with a French accent who tasered me. Got kidnapped and ended up in some dark room and got tasered again when I tried to leave."

"Look Dave I'm sorry you had to go through that. It's just procedure. We had to make sure you were on board." Jackson said.

"Yeah sure" Dave said annoyed. He got out of the elevator and headed in the direction that Lincoln went.

"Where are you going?" Jackson asked.

"I'm going to work."

Dave began to look around his surroundings as he walked slowly on the balcony of a large, spacious room with vaulted ceilings. Below him was the lively activity of busy people going in different directions. The room was nicely decorated with small ponds & bridges a serene color scheme and green plants that lined the walls on the room, giving it a earthy feeling. He walked down a flight of stairs and made his way to the center of the room. He stood there and turned around to get a 360 degree view.

"What kind of place is this?" He asked himself. He began to notice the people walking around him. Men and Women in suits, some with files in their hands. It reminded him of his days the Bureau. He also noticed a few men with ear comms and firearms holstered to their waist. "

Security" he though. A few moments later a small hand reached up and rested on his shoulder.

"So… how's The Dollhouse?" Lincoln asked.

"Doesn't really look like a dollhouse to me" Dave said continuing to look around.

"It's just a term. Nothing Dollhouse-y about it. Anyways we got a murder, or should I say murders to solve. Please follow me." Lincoln led Dave to a room situated under the balcony. It was a large room with glass walls and a long, curved table with several chairs, resembling a conference room.

"This is our situation room of sorts" Lincoln began. "This is where we are assigned cases." Lincoln sat down in one of the chairs and Dave sat next to him folding his hands. Lincoln picked up what looked like a remote control and pointed it towards the center of the room. A dim light appeared and began to grow in size & brightness as images began to flash before them.

"What the hell is that?" Dave asked surprised.

"It's a holographic display panel or HDP as I like to call it." Lincoln replied.

"Holographic? I didn't know those existed." Dave said as he curiously looked on. Images of a female appeared before them. "Who's that?"

"That would be our 1st victim. Cheryl Gillett. Age 32. She was strangled to death in her home about 2 weeks ago. A second victim was just recently found." Lincoln stood up and began to pace around the room with the remote in his hand. He pressed a button and images of a second female appeared.

"Her name is Kathleen Baker, 29 years old."

"WAIT! I saw her on the news this morning. She was killed in an alley way wasn't she?" Dave asked.

"Yes she was. Anyways we need to go interview her family, witnesses and anyone who may be a person of interest."

"Wait, what do you mean 'WE'? You're not a federal agent." Dave said.

"Um I do mean we. I'm allowed to accompany you in the field. A privilege I don't take lightly. Out of all the psychics here, I'm the only one who gets to do field work. Don't ask. Besides, how else am I supposed to solve the murder?"

"OK first off I assumed you would work the case here and 2nd WE are going to solve the murder."

"Oh course Dave." Lincoln said crossing his arms. "So how do you want to play this?"

"Well first I need to look over what you've discovered so far. Where are the case files?"

"Right here" Lincoln said as he walked over to a file cabinet and pulled out a fairly small file. He handed it over to Dave.

"This is it?" Dave asked puzzled.

"Well yeah. I haven't been able to do much without a partner. Now that you're here we can build up the file and find the killer."

"Hmm OK. Well let me skim this and I'll be ready to go."

"Sure. I just have to go do something. I'll be back." Lincoln said as he left the room. Dave opened the file and began to read what was collected about the victims. There were crime scene photos, some witness statements, and investigation notes. A few minutes later he heard a light knock at the door. He turned around to see a tall man standing outside.

"May I come in?" The man asked.

"Sure" Dave responded. He walked in and stood near Dave. Dave closed the file and got up from his chair.

"My name is Agent Paul Ballard. I'll be your guide throughout this rocky ride". He put his hand out and Dave shook it.

"Great thanks." Dave said uneasily.

"I see your reading through your case file."

"Yeah um Linc and I were—"

"Hehe. You called him Linc" Paul said.

"Is that a problem?" Dave asked.

"Oh no not at all! It's his nickname around here. Anyways I'm sure Lincoln has informed you that you'll have to go interview those close to the victim and witnesses?"

"Yeah he did. He'll be back. Said he had to go do something."

"Right. Anyways I'll be here. You can find me in my office. Lincoln will show you where it is. Nice to meet you Agent Batista."

'Agent Batista' Dave though. 'It's been a while since I was referred to as Agent Batista. Feels pretty good.'

Agent Ballard left the room and a few seconds later Lincoln returned.

"You ready to go big guy?" He asked cheerfully.

"Yeah I am."

"Great! Lets go!" Lincoln held the door open for Dave and they both walked towards the elevator.

'Great. Here we go' Dave thought.

...


	15. Discoveries

_Esha Napoleon __THANK YOU for your consistent reviews. I appreciate them. _

**Chapter Fifteen – Discoveries**

"You're a VERY quiet guy Dave." Lincoln glanced over at his new Handler, who focus remained on the road. They took Dave's SUV out to go speak with the family of the 2nd victim. Traffic had become much lighter since this morning. Dave looked up at the sky as they approached a red light. Clouds began to blanket the sky, a sign that rain would soon follow. Lincoln had pulled out his PDA to check his e-mail.

"What's there to talk about?" Dave asked. He looked over at Lincoln who was intently staring at the screen of his PDA.

"Well we can get to know each other better. I mean we are partners now." Lincoln responded.

"Partners? I don't think so." Dave replied. "I'm your Handler; you're my 'Active'. That's not the same as being partners."

"Oh ok so because I'm not a trained FBI agent toting a firearm and wearing a suit that makes me look like a penguin means that I'm not your partner? Got it." Lincoln replied, clearly annoyed at Dave's response.

Dave chuckled. "If it makes you feel better, then you can refer to yourself as my partner."

"I don't need your permission to refer to this…this thing as a partnership." Lincoln returned his focus back to his PDA. Dave rolled his eyes and continued to drive. He could tell this was going to be an excellent pairing.

"Alright were here. 1377 Spooner Street."

They arrived at a weathered down white and blue single family dwelling. The lawn was littered with dirt patches and children's toys. In the driveway were 2 sedans, one stripped of its wheels, perhaps a worn out vehicle used for spare parts and a newer Red Honda. The men stepped out of the SUV and proceeded to the front door. Lincoln reached out to ring the doorbell when Dave swiftly grabbed his wrist.

"What?" Lincoln asked.

"Let me do all the talking OK?"

"Why? Don't think I can handle it? I've done this before you know."

"I'm sure you have but still I prefer we do things my way."

"Fine." Lincoln withdrew his arm from Dave's grip and rested his hands on his hips, turning away from the larger man. Dave ranged the doorbell and they waited for someone to answer. Lincoln began to tap his foot on the wooden deck.

"You know what? You've been here for like what 1 day and already you're trying to run the show? What are you a control freak?"

"Look, I'm the fed and you're…well you're not." Dave ranged the bell again. Lincoln began to tap his foot louder, which began to annoy Dave.

"Stop that please." Dave demanded. Lincoln stared up at him and continued to be defiant.

Moments later the door opened and a frail old woman peered through the screen door.

"Mrs. Baker?" Dave asked, squinting his eyes to get a better look. She had a cane in her left hand and wore a house gown lined with flowers.

"Yes." The woman replied.

"My name is Special Agent Batista with the FBI. We're here to ask you some questions about your granddaughter Kathleen. Can we come in?"

"Oh yes of course." She unlocked the screen door and allowed Dave & Lincoln to step inside. The living room was decorated with blue and gold wallpaper, cherry oak book shelves, tables, and glass figurines. Lincoln took a deep inhale through his nose. He smelled a faint scent of apple & cinnamon air freshener.

"Couldn't even mention me? Figures." Lincoln complained under his breath. Dave shot him a glare in response.

"Please sit down" Mrs. Baker motioned for the 2 to sit on a brown leather loveseat in front of them. Mrs. Baker made her way to a rocking chair on the opposite side of the room.

Dave cleared his throat. "Mrs. Baker let me just start off by saying we're deeply sorry for your loss."

"Thank you so much. It's been hard on all of us her death. She was such a wonderful dear. I miss her very much."

"Of course. Anyways we need to ask you some questions to help with our investigation. Was anything unusual going on in Kathleen's life? Anything out of the ordinary?" Dave reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a small memo pad and pen. He clicked the pen and held the pad in his palm preparing to write.

"Well Kathy was always a very private person, every since her mother died years ago. She didn't talk much about what was going on with her. She visited me every Wednesday however. I would watch her children for her sometimes too."

"She has children?" Dave asked, taking notes.

"Oh yes. 2 precious boys. Oliver and Kenny, 7 and 5 years old. The sweetest kids. I'm worried about them. They've been asking for their mother. We haven't told them what happened yet. We're all too afraid."

"What about the father? Any relationship?"

"No I'm afraid not. He pretty much a dead beat dad. I warned Kathy not to get involved with him but she didn't listen. Got pregnant at an early age. He doesn't even believe the kids are his. Denies them every chance he gets. They look just like him though. Same eyes and nose."

"Have they ever had any problems? Arguments or anything like that?"

"All the time. Kathy wanted child support and Kevin, that's his name, would never pay it. Sometimes he would give her money here and there. I believe he did it just to keep Kathy tethered to him. After all the crap he's pulled she still wanted things to work out between them. She says it's best for the boys but I can tell that wasn't the main reason." Mrs. Baker shifted in her seat and coughed.

"Do you know his full name?" Dave asked.

"Kevin Martin Lansen" Mrs. Baker replied with a hint of disgust in her voice. He lives somewhere in West Hollywood. He's a mechanic at some low life car shop."

"Thanks that will be very—" Dave paused as he noticed Lincoln had gotten up from the loveseat and strayed over to an old & battered wooden bookshelf filled with picture frames. He noticed one of a young girl sitting on a swing set. He picked it up and looked at it.

'Dammit Linc' Dave said under his breath. He wondered what the young psychic was doing.

Lincoln finally spoke. "Kathleen… she played sports as a child?"

"Why yes she did. Soccer in middle school and volleyball in high school. She was wonderful." Mrs. Baker replied. She stood up and walked over to Lincoln, who put the picture frame down gently.

"My Kathleen was the nicest, sweetest girl. Always looking out for others in need. She loved chess as well you know." Mrs. Baker picked up a picture frame. A picture of her and Kathleen sitting on a bench at a park.

"This photo was taken just last month. She…She—" Mrs. Baker placed the frame back down and tears began to fill her eyes. Both Lincoln and Dave, who stood up and walked over to the 2 near the bookshelf looked concerned. Dave winced at the sight of Mrs. Baker crying. He didn't like to get emotionally involved with people he had to interview. It made him very uncomfortable.

Lincoln reached over and placed a hand on Mrs. Baker's back.

"I'm so sorry" He said.

"It's ok dear. I'm fine" She said as she straightened up and wiped her eyes, smiling and sucking back her tears.

'He seems to be better at this than I am'. Dave thought to himself. He placed his hands in his pockets and cleared his throat.

"Ma'am if we could—"

"Did Kathleen have headaches?" Lincoln interrupted Dave.

"Headaches? No I don't think so." Mrs. Baker turned around and walked back to her chair. "She hadn't complained about any headaches."

"Any recent illnesses or complaints of pain?" Lincoln returned to the loveseat while Dave remained standing. He was curious as to why Lincoln was asking these specific questions.

"No no. WAIT!" Mrs. Baker jumped out of her seat, surprisingly for someone her age. "Oliver did tell me that his mommy's head was hurting. About a week ago."

"I see." Lincoln began. He shifted in his seat slightly. "I think that's all we need, right Dave?" He cocked his head around to look at the agent, who had a dumb-founded look on his face.

"Uh yeah I think that's all. Thank you Mrs. Baker."

"Wait. What does Kathy's headaches have to do with her murder?" Her face had a pleading look.

"We just need as much information as possible." Lincoln answered quickly.

"Oh of course."

"We'll keep you informed of our progress Mrs. Baker." Dave said.

"Thank you. I really appreciate it."

The 2 men proceeded to walk towards the door. They gave Mrs. Baker a final goodbye and headed to the vehicle. Once inside, Dave began to question Lincoln.

"What the hell was that?" He asked.

"What do you mean? I was doing my job Dave." Lincoln said sarcastically.

"I mean the questions you asked her. The headaches and stuff."

"Oh that. Yeah I had a vision." Dave's face began to show signs of surprise and confusion.

"A vision?" Dave asked puzzled.

"Um… yeah big guy. You do remember I'm a psychic right?"

"Yeah yeah it's just that…I expected something a bit more…dramatic." He faced forward and folded his arms.

"You mean like me going into a violent stage of shock, my body thrashing wildly around, tongue hanging out and perhaps pissing myself?" Lincoln shot Dave a haunting glare.

"Well not that dramatic. I don't know I guess I was expecting something more. Anyway we got what we came for, time to go see the prick of an ex-boyfriend." Dave turned the key in the ignition and slowly pulled off the curb.

"Linc get on your little PDA thingy and lookup this Kevin Lansen."

"Sure thing." He pulled out his portable computer and keyed in Kevin Lansen on the touchscreen keyboard.

"OK got 3 results for a Kevin Lansen, let me narrow it down a bit… OK got em. The address is 776 Valcon Street, apartment 67C."

"Great. Key it into the GPS." Lincoln reached over and input the address into the GPS system on the dashboard of the vehicle.

"According to this we're about 10 minutes out. Keep driving until we reach Concord Street and turn right." Lincoln instructed.

"So how are you going to play this?" Dave asked. "I don't want any more surprises."

"Fine." Lincoln rolled his eyes and crossed his arms. "I'll be sure to let you know if I'm having a vision OK?"

"Great." Dave said.

"Yeah sure is" Lincoln shot back.

"Whatever" Dave responded.

"Well whatever to you too" Lincoln spat.

This bitter back and forth continued for awhile.

They arrived at the address on file and exited the vehicle. They walked up some metal stairs and proceeded to apartment 67C.

"You know Dave this partnership here will be A LOT easier if you don't act like a complete douchbag. I mean if you—"

"NO!!! HELP!!!"

A blood-curling shrill was heard from one of the apartments. Dave and Lincoln began to locate the source of the plea for help.

"SHUT UP BITCH! YOU HEAR ME?" A husky man's voice was heard.

"Dave?"

"Stay here!" Dave drew his firearm and sprinted further down the path, heading in the direction of the shouting."

"PLEASE STOP! I'M SORRY! I PROMISE IT WON'T HAPPEN AGAIN."

A loud smack was heard afterwards. Dave reached the end of the railing and heard shuffling near the apartment door he was standing in front of. Apartment 67C. He kicked in the door and was horrified at what he saw.

...


	16. Abused

**Chapter Sixteen**** – ****Abused**

"FBI! HANDS WHERE I CAN SEE THEM!" Batista demanded as he had his gun trained on a man standing above a woman who had bruises visible on her face and arms. He wore a red and & black jacket with a white tank-top underneath and faded man quickly let go of the woman's arm and put his hands in the air, a look of shock and surprise played on his face.

"OK! OK! OK! Calm down man! I'm not resisting!"

"Turn around and put your hands behind your head, NOW!" The man obliged and Dave reached into his back pocket and pulled out some handcuffs. He got behind the man and placed the cuffs on his wrist tightly. He then directed the man to sit on a nearby couch while he checked on the female, tears flowing from her eyes and curled up in a fetal position on the floor.

"Ma'am are you alright?" Dave asked, concerned.

"Yeah I'm fine. He didn't hurt me in any way. It's my fault." She got up and began to brush herself off and straighten her messy hair.

"With all due respect that's not what I heard from outside."

"Yeah well you must have heard wrong OK?" The female smiled and walked over to the male and sat down next to him, placing her arm around his shoulder.

"Kevin loves me. He wouldn't hurt me."

"Oh geez" Dave knew what this was. A woman suffering from domestic violence, clearly in denial. He'd seen this before with other victims. It doesn't always end well.

"Look I know what I heard OK? Now someone better tell me the truth now."

"DAVE? DAV—Everything OK?" Lincoln ran into the apartment, out of breath and he hunched over and placed his hands on his knees for support.

"Linc I asked you to wait outside." Dave said annoyed.

"Yeah I know. I just thought you might need my help or something."

"I don't OK? So go back to the car and I'll—"

"This isn't the first time is it?" Lincoln's focus now trained on the couple on the couch.

"You two should mind your own business OK? You heard her, we're fine. Just peachy."

Lincoln stood still and quiet for a moment. "Huh is that so?" Lincoln asked. He began to walk towards Kevin.

"Linc get back here!" Dave demanded, but the younger man ignored him.

"You know something Kevin, you're a douchbag, like BIG time. I'm so sorry you have daddy issues and everything, but taking your anger out on women isn't really a noble thing to do."

"You don't know jack-squat about me prick." Kevin shot back.

"Oh really? Well I see your arm has healed up nicely, you know from when you were 5 years old and your father, Derrick isn't it? Broke it and put you in the hospital for 2 days."

"YOU SON OF A BITCH!" Kevin stood up and charged at Lincoln, but before he could get close to him a strong pair of hands pushed him back down on the couch.

"STAY DOWN!" Dave growled. "Linc outside NOW!" This time Lincoln did what Dave asked and walked slowly outside the apartment, giving Kevin one last glare of disgust.

"Now Mr. Lansen, we need to have a little chat." Dave grabbed a wooden chair from the small kitchen and spun it around so that the back of the chair was in front of him and pressed his chest into it as he sat down."

"About what?" Asked a pissed Kevin. He shifted in his seat to get relief from the tight cuffs that now dug into his wrists.

"It's about Kathleen Baker, the mother of your children."

"What about that slut? You here to collect child support? I told her ass them aint my kids!"

"No you jackass. She's dead." Kevin face became blank and he paused for a moment.

Dave spoke. "Now, about Kathleen. When was the last time you saw her?"

"I…I um saw her 3 weeks ago. She came over here to uh ask for some money for Oscar's baseball uniform or something."

"You don't even know the name of your son?" Dave asked. His voice became laced with fury.

"Wait um no it's not Oscar. It's um… "

"It's Oliver. Oliver Baker." Dave answered.

"Yeah um that's it. Look don't judge me OK? Kathleen cheated on me during our relationship. I can't believe her when she says them kids is mine, and even if they were mine, I wouldn't be a good father. That black guy was right, me and my daddy had issues. I'm afraid that…" Kevin began to form tears in his eyes, trying desperately to keep them at bay.

"Where were you last night?" Dave asked the weeping man.

"He was with me, here." The woman answered quickly. "Right honey?"

Kevin shook his head "Mickey don't lie for me baby. I was out drinking last night."

"Can anyone vouch for you?"

"Uh…no. I kept my head low. Didn't speak to anyone. Just had my drinks and left."

Dave cleared his throat. "How long were you out?"

"I stayed out all night. Didn't come home til sometime earlier this morning." He shifted in his seat and looked over at Mickey, who began to squirm.

Dave began to dart his eyes back and forth between the couple. "I see…Alright that's all the questions I have for you. Stand up for me please." Dave got up and instructed Kevin to turn around so he could take the handcuffs off. Kevin began to rub at his sore wrist.

"Don't leave town. I might have some more questions for you. By the way ma'am are you sure you don't want to press domestic violence charges?"

"No no. I'm fine." Mickey began to rub her bruised arms and stared down at the floor.

Dave sighed in frustration. "Alright."

Lincoln propped his feet up on the dashboard and began to play with his PDA. He wanted to update his twitter account.

"_Domestic Violence, not cool. Not cool at all dears. Keep Safe!"_

He smiled. "Excellent post." Lincoln heard footsteps from above. He looked up and saw Dave coming down the stairs towards the SUV. He quickly removed his feet from the dashboard, worried that Dave saw him.

"Hey Davey. Everything OK?" Lincoln asked nervously as Dave entered the vehicle.

"Yeah. Everything's fine." Dave responded weakly.

"Wait so you're not arresting Lansen? What about the clear evidence of domestic battery?!?"

"She's not pressing charges and I can't arrest him if she doesn't press charges." Dave said.

"Great. She's just opening herself up for another beating. I don't get why people put themselves in that position. Just ain't right in my opinion. You know I knew this one girl and she was—"

Dave sighed. "Can you please just stop? I'm not in the mood for one of your stories."

"Fine. Whatever. Anyways what about Kevin? You think he's out guy?" Lincoln asked.

"You tell me. You seemed to know about him more than me."

"What? OH YEAH! I had another vision."

"What exactly did you see?" Dave asked.

The guy was abused as a child. Pretty sad. Anyways I didn't get a killer vibe from him though."

"Yeah well I got a vibe that he is keeping something from us."

"You mean YOU. I was ordered to stay in the car remember?" Lincoln gave Dave an annoyed glare and focus his attention back to his PDA.

"Yeah. Anyways lets head back to Kelencine. I want to get more info on this guy." Dave said as he started up the car.

"You mean the Dollhouse?" Lincoln asked.

Dave rolled his eyes "Yeah, The Dollhouse."

Lincoln smiled.

...


	17. Case Closed

**Chapter Seventeen – ****Case Closed**

"Um… where are we exactly?" Dave looked around curiously the room he'd just entered. It was small, yet spacious with ambient lighting and glass shelves full of books and what appeared to be human bones & dinosaur fossils.

"This is my office Dave. Welcome." Lincoln replied, smiling.

"Wow. It's…nice."

"Thanks. I try my best. Anyways we can continue our investigation in here. So what's next on 'Dave's Crime-Solving Agenda?'"

"Hmm. Well can I use your computer?" Dave asked.

"Sure. Do you even know…how to use a computer?" Lincoln asked cautiously.

"OF COURSE I DO!" Dave growled. Lincoln was a nice enough person, but Dave was beginning to become annoyed at his cheap one-liners and silly jokes.

"OK OK. Here sit." Lincoln directed Dave to sit down in an executive-style chair behind a large black steel desk. He opened the lid of his laptop and waited for the computer to boot up.

"You know you'll get your own office soon enough." Lincoln said grinning, trying to pass time.

"Really? Wonderful." Dave said coldly.

"You know David" Lincoln began. "Things will go a lot smoother if you would just lighten up a little. I mean gosh is this your persona? A strong, silent guy who has no sense of humor?"

"Not everyone is as peppy as you. Some might find it annoying." Dave shot back.

"Sorry. Just trying to get to know you better. Ooooh it's finished booting." Lincoln reached over Dave to key in his login credentials.

"Here we go. Now you just acces—"

"Yeah I got it Linc thanks." Dave said as he began to play around with the software. It resembled the operating system that was used in the FBI, but appeared to be more advance. He used the touchpad on the laptop to try and initiate a search though various government databases for Kevin Lansen's information. He looked up at Lincoln who had his attention on the screen, curious as to what Dave would do. Secretly he knew Dave had no idea what he was doing and he found joy in this. Dave didn't want to ask for his help. He knew he'd find what he was looking for eventually.

"You know Dave…" Lincoln began.

"I don't need any help. I got it." Dave shot back. He started to click random tabs, links and whatever else was clickable on the screen to try and find the criminal database search function. Time passed and he became visibly frustrated, still refusing to ask his partner for help.

"Ugh look Dave clearly you don't know what you're doing so let me help you." Lincoln reached over and took the laptop away from the agent. He used the touchpad to click on a link Dave seemed to have missed and a screen popup, displaying the words "US Government Data Search".

"OK we'll just type in his name; Kevin Lansen, Los Angeles California, White Male, age range 25-40, brown hair, green eyes…there." A few seconds later a match was found.

"Done and done" Lincoln said, looking at Dave, who merely grunted. Dave slid the laptop back in front of him.

"You have access to all the data the government has on this guy. FBI records, DMV, NCIS etc. I'll be upstairs if you need me." Lincoln left the room in a hurry. Dave sighed and began to read over the records.

"Let's see. Hmm criminal record, no surprise. Looks like minor crimes. Robbery, assault & battery, petty a punk." He continued to read the various records and reports when he noticed something interesting.

"Son of a bitch." Dave said loudly.

**Los Angeles County Police Report**

**Case Number: DB 26/02/10 3277**

**Incident: Domestic Battery**

**Reporting Officer: Deputy Randall Floxen**

**Date of Incident: February 26****th**** 2010**

**Assailant: Kevin Martin Lansen**

**Victim: Cheryl Anne Gillett **

Dave noticed the name of the victim; Cheryl Gillett, the first victim. Dave knew that he was now on the right track. Kevin had previous interactions with the two victims and opportunity. Kevin also had lots of rage, which he tended to take out on women.

"Hey Linc… oh yeah." Dave remember that Lincoln said he was headed upstairs so he got up from behind the desk and headed out the door, looking for him. He made his way into the center of the large, hub-like room and looked up.

"What the hell?" Dave saw bazaar blue lights flashing through glass windows. He walked closer and could hear a faint cry. He turned around and looked at the people walking by, ignoring what was happening above.

"Must be a normal thing around here." Dave wanted to know what was happening up there, especially since Lincoln may be in there. He sprinted up the staircase and walked around a corner where he noticed a large metal door with a small window near the top. He walked over to it and peered though. The blue lights blinded him, making it impossible to see anything inside. He took a deep breath and opened the door. He stepped in the room and gasped at what he saw. Lincoln was being tortured.

...


	18. Numb

**Chapter Eighteen – ****Numb**

"Susan! Susan! Where's my tie?" Mark Hanson was a busy man, always on the go. Today was no different. He had countless meetings with various local groups in need of municipal funding for their projects. It's been one month since Mark was elected into office as Mayor and he was loving every minute of it. He tried his best not to let the power and respect that came with the position get to his head. His new job meant that his time would be spread more thinly than before, finding it hard to make time for his family; His son Peter who is awaiting trial for drug sales and accessory to murder in a local jail, and his wife Susan who was going through another one of her manic phase.

"Oh stop yelling Mark. Here's your tie." Susan Hanson stood behind her husband and wrapped a dark red tie around his neck. He had on a dark blue suit with white strips.

"OK turn around so I can finish." Mark spun around and allowed his wife to finish.

"There, Perfect! You look dashing Mark. Now you go to your meetings and come back ASAP. I have a little…surprise for you." Susan began to grope her husband, who stepped back from her touch like it was poisonous.

"Susan have you been taking your meds?" Mark asked. Susan was defiant about taking her medications for her bi-polar depression. She would lie to Mark and her doctors about taking her prescriptions. She'd just flush her daily dose down the toilet.

"Oh Mark of course I've been taking my meds. Their making me feel good today." She said with a grin, stepping closer to Mark.

"Susan stop it." Mark demanded, grabbing her arms and pushing her back gently. "I know you haven't been taking your medications."

"But Mark I don't like the way they make me feel." Susan whined.

"Oh and this is any better?" Mark retorted.

"Dammit Mark stop talking down to me. I'm your wife! I demand respect! Ever since you got elected mayor you've been treating everyone different. You don't even speak to your son. He's all alone in that hell hole they call jail awaiting trial, which by the way is your fault."

"My fault! Are you fucking kidding me?" Mark growled. He loosen his tie, his face becoming red. "That kid has been acting up for years. You baby him constantly, making excuses every time he fucks up."

"Oh so you want to put this on me? How about you? You were never even around when he was growing up! Always working, building up your political career, you family be damned."

"Look Susan I'm not doing this today. I have to go." Mark attempted to walk out of their bedroom, but Susan stood at the door, relentless.

"NO! You are not leaving. You always leave! I…I just can't deal with this." Susan began to break down, dropping to her knees and allowing tears to blanket her face.

"I'll call your doctor." Mark pulled out his cell phone and dialed the number for Susan's doctor.

"Dammit Mark I don't need a doctor! I need my husband!" She continued to cry, her nose stuffed up completely, forcing her to breathe through her mouth. Mark just looked down at his hurting wife, shaking his head.

"Dr. Anges. It's Mark Hanson. Susan is having one of her fits again." Susan began to cry louder. 'How could he call them 'fits?'' She asked herself. 'Their cries for help!'

"OK thank you doctor. Good-bye. Susan? Susan! Dr. Anges will be over soon. You stay up here til he gets here. I have to leave."

"Please Mark stay with me! I need you!" Susan pleaded, grabbing her husband's legs. Mark reached down and pried Susan off him and headed downstairs. Susan felt alone. Her son was gone, and so was her husband. She had no one. Her friends left her, her relatives refused to speak with her. Everything in her life was deteriorating. She felt numb.

...


	19. King of the Dollhouse

**Chapter Nineteen – King of ****the**** Dollhouse**

Dave's body became paralyzed. He didn't know how to respond to what he was witnessing before him. His partner, strapped down to what appeared to be a high-tech chair of some kind and thrashing violently. The blue lighting that Dave seen through the windows was coming from the chair, some kind of arch positioned near Lincoln's head. The chair was also emitting some kind of high-pitched electric noise. As Dave continued to watch, he noticed a short man pacing around the chair where Lincoln laid. He caught a glimpse of the man's face as he turned around. His demeanor showed no compassion or sympathy to what was going on. He was young with unkempt dirty blond hair. He wore a orange & black checkered long-sleeved shirt, brown pants and a pair of blue vintage Nike's. Dave snapped out of his hypnosis state as he heard another scream escape from Lincoln's mouth. He drew his weapon and darted towards the young man, who was caught off guard by the agent.

"SON OF A—" He managed to yelp before Dave cut him off.

"GET HIM OUT OF THE CHAIR! NOW!" Dave growled. His large hand had wrapped itself around the man's throat and gripped it tightly.

"O….K….JUST…LET ME—" He coughed out. Dave quickly released him and the man ran over to a computer terminal and rapidly typed on the keyboard. Moments later, the chair shut down and Lincoln thrashing ceased. The back of the chair raised itself and Lincoln was now in a sitting position, slightly dazed. Dave promptly went to go check on the young psychic.

"Linc, are you OK?" He asked concerned as he unstrapped him from the chair. He gently wrapped his arm around Lincoln's back and lifted him up to a standing position and allowed Lincoln to rest his body on Dave's. Dave noticed that the man was slowly creeping towards a door on the opposite side of the room.

"HEY!" Dave yelled. The man jumped and stopped. Dave carried Lincoln as he walked over to the shorter man who appeared to be scared out of his mind.

"What the hell were you doing to him? What kind of sick people are you?" Dave barked through gritted teeth. He tried his best not to yell so as to not upset Lincoln, who was beginning to come to.

"Da…ve…Dave…" Lincoln whispered softly. He pushed himself off of Dave and stood on his own.

"Dave you don't understand. He wasn't hurting me."

"What?!?" Dave fumed. His anger began to increase, but now it was directed at the Dollhouse and Kelencine.

"Dave, this is Topher, Topher Brink. He's the um…"

"KING OF THE DOLLHOUSE!" Topher Exclaimed. "Well in a sense I like to consider myself—"

"So if you weren't being tortured, then—"

"Whoa! You thought I was being tortured?" Lincoln exclaimed.

"YES! You were thrashing around and shit. What was I suppose to think?" Dave shouted. "You know what? It doesn't matter. I'm getting the fuck out of this place." Dave stormed out of the room and headed downstairs. Lincoln ran after him.

"Um wow…" Topher blurted out. "Let's see here…Guess it's back to work for Topher Brink."

***

"DAVE WAIT!" Lincoln yelled as he dashed after an irate Dave. Lincoln finally caught up to him.

"Dave…Look I know things around here are a bit… well weird."

"You damn right they are! The bull I went through getting this job, which I didn't want in the 1st place and now this? I'm sorry Linc but I can't do this. It's not for me." Dave began to walk away, his anger beginning to fade.

"Dave. Please." Lincoln pleaded. "Just give it a chance. I mean c'mon, what about our case? You're just gonna abandon that?"

Dave then remembered why he went upstairs in the first place. He was looking for Lincoln to announce that he'd found the killer.

"By the way why did you come upstairs? Were you looking for me or something?" Lincoln asked.

"Yeah. I think that Kevin is our killer. Cheryl Gillett, the first victim, filed a domestic violence complaint against him recently." Informed Dave.

"That's interesting." Lincoln added.

"Yeah. Anyways I'm sure someone else can help you with that."

"OK Dave just listen. I know you must have tons of questions to ask. Well I have answers. Come to my office and I will tell you everything I know about the Dollhouse."

Dave stood silent for a moment, considering Lincoln's proposal. He did have many questions that were unanswered about this place and what they do, but he had doubts about being involved in such an organization. After a few moments of deliberating he signed and finally gave in to his increasing curiosity.

"OK. Tell me about the dollhouse."

...

_Next chapter (which I'll be writing shortly after this one) will sorta be a Q & A chapter. Any unanswered questions about the dollhouse and kelencine will be answered._


	20. Revelations

_This chapter is LONG overdue. I realized that there are a lot of unanswered questions and confusing information in the story and I want to clarify some things. Also the Dave/Lincoln romance is gonna build up slowly. I already have a sequel in the works in which Dave will finally reveal his feelings for Lincoln__, but there will be tibits of fluff/slash here and there__. For now Lincoln will be paired with someone else, perhaps someone from Dave's past… __ Also we will start seeing more WWE characters as the story continues._

_WOW! 20 chapters! This is a first for me. Thanks for all you readers. You keep me going._

**Chapter Twenty – Revelations**

"Alright Linc. I want answers." Dave took a seat on a black leather couch situated in the middle of Lincoln's office. Lincoln began to pace back and forth between his desk and the glass coffee table in front of Dave.

"OK um… You're sure that Agent Walker didn't tell you anything?" Lincoln inquired.

"Yes I'm sure! I know nothing about this place or what you all do." He growled. "Jackson told me some things and that blonde chick—"

"Oh you mean Maryse?!? I like her. Such fierceness."

Dave crossed his arms and gave Lincoln an icy-cold stare. He could tell the smaller man was slightly intimidated. They clearly had different views about Maryse.

"Right OK." Lincoln acknowledged. He stopped pacing the room and sat down next to Dave on the leather couch. "Well what is it you want to know? I mean where do I begin?"

"Start with what happened to you upstairs" Dave replied. "Why were you strapped down to a chair screaming?"

"OK. You remember when we were about to go interview Mrs. Baker and I said I had to go do something beforehand?"

Dave nodded.

"Well you see the chair is a Neurotransmitter Amplifier. It's used to enhance a psychic's abilities temporarily. Whenever us psychics are about to go into the field, we use the chair to increase the probability of our abilities picking up on something, for me it would be my visions."

"But the pain…" Dave began.

"It's not as bad as it looks, trust me. Most of the time you don't feel anything. It's just your body reacting to the increased neuro-activity. Topher's the one who designed it. He's 'King of the Dollhouse' like he said. Always coming up with tons of gadgets and stuff. He's pretty smart, but not smarter than me of course." Lincoln chuckled and continued. "Anyways I wasn't being tortured or anything, just using the chair to reverse the process."

"Reverse the process?" Dave questioned.

"Yeah. The neurotransmitters need to revert back to their normal state or it can cause all sorts of side-effects. Topher's not sure what they are exactly, but he's sure they won't be pretty. By the way thanks for your concern. I seen how you reacted to what you thought was me being tortured." Lincoln smiled and Dave turned his head, blushing hard. He remembers seeing Lincoln in that chair and instantly went into protective mode. He didn't know why, but seeing Lincoln in pain or in any kind of danger seemed to set him off, ready to beat the hell out of anyone who dared posed a risk to his partner. Clearly embarrassed, he coughed and signaled for Lincoln to continue.

"OK question one answered. What's next?"

Dave sat silent for a moment, thinking of another question he wanted answered. There were millions of them floating around in his head but couldn't figure out which one he wanted to choose next. He cleared his throat.

"OK tell me more about the Dollhouse & The Unit." Dave said, maintaining his cold demeanor.

"Well Kelencine was founded in 1954 by 2 biochemists as a medical research company. For a couple of years they dabbled with pharmaceutical manufacturing and what not. Anyways during the early 60s one of the founding partners wanted to restructure the company, turn it into a genetics research lab. He was obsessed with human evolution and wanted to be on the forefront of genetic discoveries. The other partner however—"

"Wait." Dave interrupted. "What are the partner's names?"

"Oh Steven Hogins & David Braeback. Anyways Hogins wanted the genetics lab to invoke man-made human evolution. A real nutjob in my opinion. Braeback refused to let that happen. They fought and eventually Hogins kicked Braeback out of the company and Hogins began his diabolical plan to advance the human species. Sad thing is he succeeded."

"Man-made psychics." Dave whispered. Lincoln nodded.

"Kelencine would regularly put ads in the papers looking for test subjects for their experiments, operating under the guise that they were researching general human behavior. Well a bunch of people participated in their research over the years and a small percentage of them began to exhibit psychic abilities. Kelencine kept tabs on all of its subjects and regularly evaluated them. One day someone at the Department of Justice discovered what they was doing. They launched a low-key investigation and were planning to indict the company. Somehow Hogins convinced the government to allow the experiments to continue."

"You mean allowing the FBI to use these psychics as consultants in exchange for the government looking the other way?" Dave assumed.

"Yeah. There was a crime wave back then and well the FBI needed help so Kelencine offered it to them. The deal was struck and Kelencine continued their research while the government looked the other way. Thus 'The Unit' was formed. A secret division of the FBI made up of various ex-law enforcement personnel and former test subjects of Kelencine."

"So does Kelencine continue to experiment on people?" Dave asked. He leaned in towards Lincoln, becoming entangled in the story he was hearing.

"Well they say they don't but I have my doubts. After 15 years they apparently ceased being a genetics research company and went back to manufacturing pharmaceuticals. Like I said, bunch of bull. Why would they just stop the experiments when they made the biggest discovery known to man?" Lincoln stood up and began to pace the room.

"And the dollhouse? That's just a code name for The Unit's base of operations?"

"Yeah" Lincoln Acknowledged.

"Why is the dollhouse here at Kelencine? Why not a separate federal building?"

"I don't know" Lincoln explained. "Maybe the government wanted plausible deniability.

"Alright let me ask you this, when we go to arrest a suspect, where the hell do we take them? I mean this is supposed to be a secret place right? We can't just bring them here."

"You ever noticed that FBI branch across the street?" Lincoln asked.

"Yeah…"

"That's where we take em', under the guise were with the FBI, which we are but the public FBI, not the private one." Lincoln beamed.

"Gotcha" Dave replied. He sat back into the couch and sighed, burying his face in his hands. He sat upright and placed his hands on his knees. Being in the FBI your allowed access to certain information the general public otherwise is oblivious too, but Dave was completely unprepared for what he'd just heard, just like then Jackson tried explaining it to him.

"Alright next question. The cases. How does The Unit get assigned cases? Does the FBI just randomly hand us something they think they can't deal with or what?" Dave inquired.

"Well that's kind of difficult to explain…" Lincoln trailed off.

"Try me" Dave insisted.

"OK most of the cases we deal with are of 'unusual' circumstances."

"How so?" Dave asked.

"Well they usually involve some kind of psychic link to them. Kelencine had hundreds of test subjects, maybe even thousands all across the country. We have people who view cases and determine if there is a psychic link."

"A psychic link?" Dave asked confused.

"Yeah. Either the killer or victim could be psychic or have the brain architecture. Also we investigate major crimes and just unusual crimes in general."

"I see." Dave replied. He still have many questions poking at him, like how do they use evidence obtained by psychics during trial, and how The Unit goes about choosing new recruits. Why was he chosen? He began to become overwhelmed by everything he'd just learned.

"You OK Dave? You seem troubled." Lincoln stood in front of the agent and looked on with concern on his face. He knew Dave was having trouble taking in everything he'd just heard. He sat down next to Dave and placed a hand on his broad shoulder.

"Dave you should know that it's hard to accept this reality, you know the government being involved in such practices. I mean it seems harmless at first, even wonderful, but where do we draw the line? Pandora's box is wide open and I fear this will take us down a dark path. But I look at it this way; I'm here to make sure they don't fuck things up." Lincoln grinned and Dave nodded.

"Yeah that's a good way to look at it."

"So…you still thinking about leaving?" Lincoln asked.

"Lincoln?"

"Yes?"

"Let's go arrest our murder." Dave stood up and smiled down at his partner. Lincoln jumped up and they both headed for the door.

…


	21. Choices

**Chapter Twenty-One – ****Choices**

_2 months ago…_

Peter Hanson sat outside an abandon warehouse, anxiously awaiting the arrival of his drug contacts he'd set himself up with for this particular transaction that was to go down tonight. He'd recently returned from a trip to Mexico after acquiring a massive amount of cocaine to distribute around the Los Angeles area. He and a 'friend', Jeff Hardy were planning on reselling the cocaine to a local cartel looking to expand their inventory. Jeff and his brother Matt were helping Peter with the transaction. Tonight Peter was handing over a 3rd of the cocaine to the Hardy brothers to unload to the cartel. They were smart. Moving too much inventory at one time was too risky. They picked this location in Van Nyes as the transfer point due to its remote location and low risk of being seen.

"Goddammit! Where the hell are they?" Peter fumed as he hit the dashboard of his black Mercedes-Benz, a gift he'd received from his father a year ago. He was becoming increasingly impatient with the latency of the Hardy brothers. They were only 15 minutes late, an unacceptable condition for Peter. He had many reasons to be nervous; for one they could be busted and sent to prison for possession and intent to distribute. Peter was confident that any legal issues he'd gotten himself into would be easily brushed under the rug by his father, who recently won his bid for Mayor of Los Angeles.

A few minutes later a white van emerged from behind the rocky landscape and neared itself towards the warehouse. Peter knew it was Jeff and his brother. He got out of his car and walked over to the front entrance of the warehouse. He put his hands on his hips and began tapping his foot.

'The nerve of these punks', He thought to himself.

As the van parked outside of the warehouse, a slender framed man got out and walked over to Peter. His hair was an intriguing display of red, purple, and green colors. He wore black jeans with the knee caps cut out and a long chain for a belt. He approached Peter who began to bark at the rainbow haired man.

"WHAT THE FUCK TOOK YOU BITCHES SO LONG?!?"

"Dude chill out! We were only like what 10 minutes late?"

"17 If you want to get technical Jeff." Peter scoled.

"Exactly. 17 fucking minutes. Fuck off" Jeff ran his fingers threw his hair and began to blow bubbles with the stick of watermelon flavored gum he was chewing.

"So…" Jeff began.

"What are you dumb? Let's get this over with!"

"Alight chill. Look Peter I had to bring um…a few other people—"

"YOU WHAT?!?" Peter shouted, his eyes filled with rage. "You promised it will just be you and Matt. Dammit!"

"CHILL THE FUCK OUT OK? I had to bring them. Besides it will be much faster for us to load up the coke this way. Now be a good boy and open the damn doors." Jeff turned around and motioned for those inside the van to step out. 3 men, mostly wearing all black clothing got out of the vehicle and walked over to Jeff. Peter reached into his pocket and pulled out the keys to the warehouse.

"So Jeffy this is Peter huh?" A darked-haired man asked. He was slightly shorter than Jeff and wore a black mesh t-shirt with black leather pants. He also wore black fingerless gloves and he too had a long chain for a belt around his waist.

"Yes Matt that's Peter." Jeff said annoyed, rolling his eyes. He hated it when Matt asked the most stupidest and obvious questions.

"Looks weak to me. He'll rat us out in a heartbeat if we get caught…" Matt said cautiously.

"Yeah I know. Don't worry though. I got it under control." Jeff smiled and proceeded to the back of the van to open the rear doors.

"OK door is open. Let's get this thing over with." Peter said.

"Great. Chavo! Carlito! Load the coke in the van." Two men stepped away the van and entered the warehouse. The bricks of cocaine were stacked near the door. They picked up a few bricks at a time and shuttled them into the van. Jeff, Matt & Peter looked on. Peter began playing with his silver Rolex watch.

"Can you tell them to hurry up?!?" Peter barked. Beads of sweat were forming on his forehead. His palms also became sweaty.

"Look you fucker", Matt began. He stepped forward and got within inches of Peter's face. "If you don't shut the fuck up I'm gonna—"

"MATT!" Jeff got in between the two men and pushed his brother backwards with his hands. "Both of you just chill the fuck out OK? Shit! Their almost finished." Jeff went back to where he was standing, near a bunch of wooden crates that were stacked at least 10 feet high.

"Finished!" Shouted Carlito as he wiped sweat from his brow and sat on one of the wooden crates. Chavo pulled out a cigarette and began smoking it, puffing the smoke in Peter's direction. He began to snicker when Peter covered his nose and walked away from the smoke clouds that hover in the spot he stood in.

"Alight. Done and Done" Jeff said. He approached peter and spit out his gum.

"OK so the rest we'll unload later right?" Peter asked nervously.

"Sure buddy." Jeff replied, patting Peter's back. A few Seconds later Jeff's cell phone ranged in his pocket. He reached in to grab it and answered it.

"Yeah?"

"_We got __trouble__" _Said a voice on the other end.

"_What is it Swagger?" _Jeff replied?

"_Skippy ratted you guys out! The feds are on their way to you guys now. I gotta go."_ The line went dead.

"Jack? Jack! SHIT!" Jeff dropped his phone and began to step on it violently.

"What's wrong Jeff?" Matt asked.

"Fucking Skippy! He's your friend Peter!" Jeff screamed pointed his finger at Peter in an enraged fashion.

"What?!? What are you talking about Jeff?" Peter exclaimed.

"Skippy fucking snitched on us. The feds will be here any minute. We got to go now!"

"SHIT!" Peter shouted. He dashed towards his vehicle. Carlito & Chavo ran to the van. Jeff & Matt stood their ground.

"EVERYONE HOLD THE FUCK UP!" Jeff growled. "We need to get all this coke out of here. Carlito, Chavo, Matt load the rest of it in the van.

"Screw that! I say we leave the shit here and high tail it in Peter's car. That shits gotta go at least 200 mph" Matt said.

"It's a fucking coup!" Jeff snapped. "Only 2 people can fit in there dumbass. Besides I'm not giving up this shit. I worked too hard for this to just go sour."

"I am not going to prison over this shit." Carlito ranted. Jeff ran over to him and smacked him in the back of the head.

"NO ONE IS GOING TO PRISON! Now load the shit up!"

After all the bricks of coke were loaded, the men were prepared to leave when they noticed headlights coming towards them.

"SHIT! IT'S THE FEDS!" Yelled Peter. "What are we—"

"Chavo, you're bait. Matt, Carlito, let's go." Jeff commanded. All 3 men pulled out semi-automatic weapons from their pockets and began prepping themselves for a fight.

"What the hell are you guys doing?!?" Peter spat out. "You can't…"

Jeff chucked. "Look, I said we weren't going to jail and I meant it. Now you're either with us or not. Either way this is going to happen." He cocked his gun and proceeded with Matt and Carlito to duck behind a large mound of dirt. Peter looked on as Chavo began to pace back and forth near the warehouse entrance. He had to make a decision quick. The headlights were getting closer.

'I…I can't go to prison. I can't get caught!' Peter thought to himself. Time was running out. 'Dammit! I knew this was a bad idea. All this for a quick buck?!? SHIT!'

Peter finally decided to go along with Jeff's plan and he ran to where they had positioned themselves. Peter didn't know just how bad things would get from there on in…

_Present Day…_

"LIGHTS OUT!"

Peter hated hearing those words. They came out of nowhere every night on the loudspeakers and rang through his ears, giving him headaches. It's been 2 months since that fateful night where his life changed. Jeff fired the shot that killed that FBI agent and they were all going to prison. There was nothing his father could do, or more accurately nothing his father chose to do.

'_You got yourself into this mess Peter, you're going to get yourself out of it' _His father told him when he came downtown to see him. His mother was all in knots over the arrest. It made her condition worse, something Peter was very sorry for.

Peter shifted in his mattress, trying to find a comfortable position. He had a long road ahead of him. With this event under his belt, he was looking at a good 10-20 years in prison. He wondered if he could survive that. Judging from his current stay at the Los Angeles county jail, prison was going to eat him alive…

…


	22. Doubt

**Chapter Twenty-Two**** – ****Doubt**

"I DIDN'T DO IT!" Kevin Landen began to beat his fist on the metal table that sat in front of him, screaming he didn't do it over and over to a non-existent audience. Dave & Lincoln went over to his apartment and placed him under arrest for the murders of Cheryl Gillett and Kathleen Baker. They brought him back to the FBI branch building, just across the street from the Kelencine building for interrogation. Kevin put up a struggle during his arrest, professing his innocence. He managed to slug Dave in the face before being cuffed. On an ordinary day Dave would have let his anger get the best of him but since Lincoln was there he kept it together. He didn't want the smaller man to think of him as some hot-headed giant.

Dave and Lincoln were in the adjacent room deciding how to play this. They kept an eye on Kevin through a one-way glass mirror. The suspect began fidgeting with his cuffs.

Lincoln was pacing the room, figuring out a strategy to get Landen to talk.

"OK so here's how we play this. We both go in and—"

"No. You stay here. I go in and interrogate him." Batista said gently.

"Wait what?" Lincoln asked surprised.

"You heard me. You stay in here. You're not going in there." Dave replied.

"Why don't you want me in there Dave? You think I don't know what I'm doing?"

"No Linc. It's Because you don't belong in there. Besides he already tried to attack you once today and he punched me earlier. I don't want you to get hurt."

"Oh really? OK big guy. Fine if this is how you want to play it go right ahead. I want to see your interrogation techniques anyways. Let's see if he confesses."

Dave rolled his eyes and left the room. He opened the door slowly to where Kevin was and immediately slammed it behind him. Kevin jumped in his seat and became quiet after continuing his ranting. Dave began to stare down Landen with intense eyes and a stiff face. He was trying to intimidate the suspect. Kevin haden't asked for a lawyer yet and Dave was going to get as much out of him as possible before he did.

"Alright Landen. Let's get one thing straight here. You see that glass there? There's no one on the other side. It's just you…and me." He grabbed a chair and sat down softly, continuing to stare down Kevin.

"Look man I'm sorry I punched you. I… I was just… pissed off. I mean how could you guys think I killed my ex?"

"Gee Landen I don't know. Maybe it's because you like beating up women. Maybe that wasn't enough for you anymore. Maybe this time you needed to take it further. I mean You like beating women don't you?" Dave was relentless in his quest to get the truth out of Kevin.

"Look those were all 'misunderstandings' OK." Kevin replied.

"Oh Really?" Dave responded. He stood up sharply and slammed his palms on the table, causing Landen to jump again. "You know what you son of a bitch? People like you think they can just go around and hit women and its ok. You know what? IT'S NOT!" Dave picked up his chair and threw it against the wall. "How would you like it if someone bigger than you kicked the shit out of you huh?" Dave pushed the table clear across the room and grabbed Kevin's arms.

"HELP! HELP SOMEBODY!!!" Kevin screamed. He squirmed; trying to get out of Dave's clutches but it was no use. Dave was simply too strong for him. Dave got in his face and began to scream, spit flying from his mouth and landing on Kevin.

"YOU SCARED YOU LITTLE BITCH? HUH?!?"

"HELP!!!!!"

A few seconds later the door flew open and 2 agents rushed in and grabbed Dave off Landen. Dave quickly pulled away from them and stormed towards the door when he noticed Lincoln was standing, looking up at him. Dave stopped dead in his tracks. He instantly calmed down after seeing the concern look on the psychic's face. Dave was ashamed of what he'd done. He'd lost it in front of his partner. Not a good first-day impression to make.

"Dave come with me." Lincoln said softly. Dave followed quietly. They walked to the end of the narrow hallway to an empty office with 2 chairs, a small wooden desk and a mountain of boxes full of files. Lincoln sat in one of the chairs and motioned for Dave to do the same. He kept his head down, avoiding eye contact with Lincoln and sat down. He cleared his throat and began to speak.

"Linc….I um…what happened in there was unprofessional and inexcusable."

"Yeah it was." Lincoln said gently. He too kept his head down and began to twiddle his thumbs. He took in a deep breath and sighed.

"I just lost it. I mean who does this guy think he is? Going around beating on women like that?"

"I realize what he's done is disgusting and horrible but that doesn't give you the right to behave like that. You could get in trouble. This isn't the run-of-the-mill 'look the other way when something happens' FBI you're use to. There are consequences for your actions Dave."

"Yeah I know. Look I'm sorry Linc." Dave sighed. "I didn't want you to see me like that."

"Why? Is that something that happens often with you? Losing control" Lincoln asked.

"No it's not. I just…I don't want you to think of me as an aggressive person. I mean I know I can look quite intimidating but—"

"From what I've seen so far from you Dave I don't think that. You're a kind and gentle person Agent Batista. I know that. Trust me." Dave looked up to see a smiling Lincoln staring back at him. He felt relieved knowing that Lincoln didn't see him as some brute, as if it was the most important thing in the world to him; how Lincoln perceived him. He also felt a sense of increasing passion for Lincoln. Was he falling in love with this man?

Just then a knock was heard at the door and Lincoln rose from his seat and opened it.

"Oh hi c'mon in." A medium height female with honey brown hair walked in to the room. She wore a bright red tank top with a black skirt and matching black heels. Dave stood up from his chair to greet the woman.

"Dave this is Priya Tsetsang. She's another active at the Dollhouse."

"Hi nice to meet you." Priya said, extending a hand to Dave. Dave shook it and smiled. She spoke with a soft Australian accent. Her facial features suggested she had Asian blood-ties.

"Nice to meet you too." Dave answered.

"Anyways while we were out arresting Landen, Priya was sketching." Dave became confused. "Oh um her ability is to sketch out her visions, literally drawing the future." Lincoln explained.

"Or past." Priya chimed in.

"Yes." Lincoln acknowledged. "Anyways she sketched this." Priya handed Dave a long piece of paper. It had a sketch of a man appearing to be Kevin Landen stepping out of a shop with the woman he was with earlier today.

"What does this mean?" Dave asked confused.

"Well I showed this to Linc who recognized the couple as Kevin Landen and his assumed girlfriend who we've now identified as Mickey James. The shop is Lowell's Flower Boutique located on Aversons and 49th." Priya explained.

"Priya checked their security camera footage before showing me the picture. She matched the sketch to an exact still frame on the footage."

"What are you trying to say Linc?" Dave asked.

"The video shows them leaving the shop at 9:57pm the night that Cheryl Gillett was killed." Lincoln replied. He sighed and continued. "Cheryl was killed around 10:14pm."

"So you're saying that Kevin isn't our guy? That's impossible." Dave fumed. "He could have easily killed her after leaving the flower shop."

"Impossible." Priya pointed out. "The flower shop and the spot where Cheryl was found are at least 40 minutes of traffic away from each other. He couldn't have gotten there in time to kill her."

Lincoln spoke. "Dave… Kevin couldn't have killed Cheryl or Kathleen which means…the real killer is still out there."

…


	23. Evidence

**Chapter Twenty-Three – Evidence**

"This is insane." Dave said as he began to pace around the room. He clearly wasn't buying this new evidence Priya and Lincoln presented to him. He had his doubts about how credible it was. He was absolutely sure Kevin was the killer. Landen knew both victims and he had a bad temper and Dave was sure Kevin was capable of murder.

"How credible is this…this sketch?" Dave demanded, pounding his hand on the wrinkled piece of paper.

"Um it's very credible Dave." Lincoln declared. He seemed confused as to why Dave would question the reliability of the evidence that Priya managed to dig up.

Priya stepped forward and began to speak. "Look I know that it may be difficult at first to accept 'our' findings as solid evidence and proof but—"

"Yeah it is. Look I'm not trying to insult you two but I just don't think that this…this picture is clear proof that Landen is innocent. I mean what if the medical examiner was wrong about time of death?"

"Are you saying I'm not a good medical examiner Dave?"

"What?!? YOU'RE an M.E.?" Dave asked flabbergasted.

"Yeah. I have a lot of schooling under my belt. Graduating high school at age 14 enables you to have such. Anyways I'm sure about the time of death. Give or take 2 minutes but Cheryl definitely was dead around 10:00 PM and that picture, along with the video footage from the flower shop clearly proves that Kevin couldn't have killed Cheryl and since the murder of Kathleen Baker was very similar, he probably didn't kill her either."

Dave sighed. While he could deny the sketch that Priya provided, security cam footage didn't lie. He had to accept the possibility that Kevin Landen isn't the murderer.

"Alright fine. So the murderer is still out there. Guess that means we gotta release Landen."

"We should do that immediately, you know considering…" Lincoln replied.

"Yeah I guess you're right. I'll do it." Dave volunteered.

"You sure that's a good idea Dave?" Lincoln asked concerned.

"I can handle it Linc. Trust me"

Dave opened the door and walked back down the hallway to where Landen was. There outside the room stood 2 FBI agents ready to intercept Batista.

"IT'S OK GUYS!" Lincoln shouted, sprinting after Dave. "We're cutting him loose."

The 2 agents backed down and allowed Dave & Lincoln to enter the room. Landen was sitting there playing with his thumbs when he looked up to see the 2 men standing before him.

"GET HIM OUT OF HERE!" Landen screamed. He shot up from his chair and ran to a corner in the room.

"Shut up Landen." Dave said annoyed. "We're letting you go."

"What?!? Just like that?" Kevin was confused.

"Yes. We know you didn't do it. You're free to go." Lincoln replied.

Dave walked closer to Kevin, who raised his hands to his face in self-defense. Dave rolled his eyes and grabbed his wrists and uncuffed him.

"There you little prick. You're free to go."

"Fuck you" Kevin barked with a bit of confidence in his voice, sure that Dave wasn't going to lay a hand on him again. He walked out of the room and went with the 2 agents down to processing. Dave and Lincoln could hear Kevin ranting down the hallway, threatening to sue the FBI for his mistreatment.

"Don't worry Dave." Lincoln said, patting his back. Dave looked down at the smiling man and smiled back.

"Thanks. I'll be fine." Dave looked at his watch and noticed the time was 6:36 PM. Lincoln noticed and chuckled.

"Ready for the day to be over?" He asked.

"Yeah sort of." Dave grunted.

"Well congratulations its over. You head on home. I'm going to go back to the Dollhouse and sift through some more evidence. Maybe there's something we missed."

"You sure?" Dave asked.

"Yeah. I have to go get some things anyways. See ya tomorrow."

"Bye"

Dave was walking to his vehicle when he was stopped by a soft voice behind him.

"Dave?"

Dave turned around to see Priya racing towards him.

"Yeah?" Dave answered.

"I just wanted to say that it was great to meet you. I mean you seem like a really great person."

"Thanks" Dave replied.

"You know um… Lincoln really likes you. I mean you two seem to get along pretty well."

"Yeah I guess. He's ok."

"Excellent. So um… I hope your partnership works out. I see two you doing a lot of good together. Well anyways I won't keep you. Goodnight."

"Nite" Dave stood there confused as Priya walked away. 'Why did she say that? 'I hope you two work out'. What did that mean exactly?' He buried the though and got into his vehicle. His first day at the Dollhouse was quite an interesting one.

…

…

_Next chapter up tomorrow. Will FINALLY feature Dave/Lincoln slashy moment. Can't wait!_


	24. Reality

_Another masterpiece of a chapter. As promised a slashy moment between Dave and Lincoln. It's of course not what it appears to be…_

**Chapter Twenty-Four – Reality **

"Dave…? Dave wake up."

A soft and gentle voice whispered in Dave's ear, waking him up from peaceful slumber. He moaned and opened his eyes. Who did that voice belong to? He was very tired and groggy but managed to sit up. Dave looked around. He was in his bedroom lying down on his mattress. His vision was surprisingly clear and sharp, more so than usual. He felt different. Time seemed to move slowly and faster at the same time. Everything around him was vibrant and vivid. He didn't know what was going on.

"Dave?"

"What the…?" Dave turned to his right and noticed Lincoln laying next to him. He wasn't wearing any clothing and was beaming at the animal.

"LINC! What the hell?" Dave exclaimed.

"Mornin' baby" Lincoln replied giving Dave a small peck on the lips. Dave was horrified. What was Lincoln doing in his bed naked?

"Linc I don't understand."

"Don't understand what dear?"

"'Dear?' What's going on? Why are you in my bed naked? And why does everything look… strange?" Dave asked quizzically. He looked up at the ceiling and noticed a giant pink elephant floating above them. He thought nothing of it.

Lincoln laughed. He slipped under the covers and moved closer to Dave, pressing his body against the larger man. Dave could feel his warm, soft skin against his own flesh. He realized that he too was naked. Dave felt Lincoln's erection rubbing against his thigh, causing him to respond with an erection of his own. It became hard as steel and was jabbing his naval area.

"Last night must have been rough on you. You don't even remember what we did do you?"

"No I… linc…"

Lincoln placed a finger to Dave's lips. "Shh. It's OK. How about I give you an instant replay huh?"

Dave's eyes widen as Lincoln rolled on top of and began straddling him. He then reached behind him and began to stroke Dave's throbbing cock, begging to be touched.

"Lincoln…" Dave managed to breathe out. The pleasure he was feeling from Lincoln's touch was overwhelming. Lincoln grasped him lightly and was tugging on his erection gently. Dave gave a silent cry as his foreskin slid over his wet head. He was still confused as to what had transpired between them last night but he didn't want to interrupt Lincoln. He just laid there enjoying his handjob. He closed his eyes for a brief moment and when he opened them the Pink Elephant was gone and was replaced by a floating pizza. Dave reached up and took a slice and began to eat it. He could barely taste it nor was it hunger-satisfying; however he continued to take small bites.

"If you were hungry Dave all you had to do was ask…" Lincoln said seductively. He softly placed Dave's weeping cock back down on Dave's stomach and crawled off the bed.

"Where are you going?" Dave asked, his mouth full of pizza.

"To get you dessert." Lincoln replied playfully. He left Dave on the bed and opened the bedroom door.

"Wait!" Dave threw the slice of pizza on the mattress and darted towards the door. When he reached it however he noticed that he wasn't in his living room.

"The Hell?" Dave looked around. Dirt and sand was everywhere. He was now wearing his standard black suit and tie, his gun holstered to his waist. He pulled it out and began to walk cautiously around, surveying the area. This place looked familiar to him.

"DAVE!" He heard Lincoln shout his name. He looked straight ahead and noticed the psychic was just a few feet away. They were behind the side of a van. Wooden crates were behind them. Dave knew this place. It can't be…

A few seconds' later Gun shots were heard from far away. Bullets were slamming into the van and surrounding areas. Dave looked over to Lincoln who was shielding himself behind a crate.

"Linc!"

"Dave what's going on?!?"

"I…I don't know. It's OK. Just stay there." Dave began firing his weapon into a dark nothingness. He couldn't see what he was aiming at but continued to fire in the direction the bullets were coming from.

"Dave I think we should make a run for it. Look, over there is a car. I have the keys." Dave turned his attention to Lincoln who had a pair of keys in his hands.

"No Linc. We need to stay—" Lincoln got up and ran towards the vehicle. Dave got up and tried to grab him but he tripped over a dozen bottles of whiskey. He looked up and saw Lincoln standing out in the open becoming an easy target. The gun shots had stopped. They were now surrounded by darkness.

"Dave…" Lincoln said softly. He was holding his stomach.

"Linc?"

"I…I'm sorry"

Lincoln removed his hand to reveal his gun wound. Blood was pouring out at an enormous rate. Lincoln then collapsed on the ground.

"NO!" Dave rushed over to Lincoln who blankly stared up at Dave.

"I'm sorry…" He managed to say before closing his eyes.

"LINC!!!!"

Dave broke down and held the smaller man in his arms. Lincoln was dead.

*BEEP* *BEEP* *BEEP*…

Dave sat up and without thinking slammed his fist on the beeping object next to him. His alarm clock had gone off. It was 6:45am.

"It was a dream?" Dave threw the blankets off of him. He was still in his suit which had became all wrinkly. As he got off the bed 3 bottles of whiskey rolled off the bed and broke on the hardwood floor.

"Shit!" He growled. He frowned and began to maneuver himself around the broken glass. He went into the living room and sat on the couch, removing 2 cans of beer he drank last night from the couch. Drinking always gave him the weirdest dreams but last night's was intense. He could smell, feel, see and taste everything so clearly and vividly. He began to reflect on what he remembered about the dream.

"Linc…"

Dave picked up a bottle of Miller-Lite from the floor and held it in his hand and began to contemplate. He still felt guilty about Roger's death. He still felt like it was his fault. He still felt he could have prevented it on more than one occasion but failed to do so. And then there was the dream. What if he'd put Lincoln in danger? What if he hesitated in the field again like the night Roger died while Lincoln was with him?

"No. I can't. I can't let that happen to him. He's just a kid." Dave softly banged his head against the glass bottle. After much thinking he'd made up his mind. He was quitting "The Unit" effective immediately.

…


	25. The End

"_The Unit" is coming to an end with only a few chapters left. I promise the ending will be dramatic and you will not see it coming. I will focus on my other 2 stories before writing a sequel to the series. Enjoy._

**Chapter Twenty-Five – The End**

"It's for the best." Dave kept his focus on the road as he drove to the Kelencine building one last time to make his intentions known to Lincoln that he was resigning. He kept telling himself that it was for the best and that his partner of a short run would understand. They've only worked with each other for one day so no attachment could have possibly formed in that short span of time, at least on Lincoln's end. Dave was sure of it.

As he continued to drive he began thinking about the dream he had. It felt so real.

"What was I thinking? I wasn't ready to take on something like this. Dammit!" Dave frowned as he continued to beat himself up over his decision to join The Unit. He knew he wasn't ready to take on such a big job like that but he felt depressed just staying in his apartment all day drinking. Besides he needed a job to pay his rent.

"I should have just settled for private security." He said to himself. He slowed down as he came to an intersection. He looked to his left and saw the Kelencine building coming into view. This was it. How was he going to break it to Lincoln, someone he'd grown close to in such a short period of time that he was leaving?

As Dave parked his SUV he sat in the vehicle for a few minutes thinking about what he was about to do. He placed his hands on the dashboard and began lightly tapping them against it. What about the two murder victims Cheryl Gillett and Kathleen Baker? What about the promise he made to Kathleen's mother that he would find the killer?

"It's for the best. It's for the best. I have to do this. I'm too much of a liability."

Dave stepped out of the vehicle and began walking towards the elevator. He noticed the hand scanner in front of him and became concerned.

'Would my handprint even work?' He though. He had no other choice but to try. He placed his palm on the scanner and waited as it began reading his palm print. A few seconds later the panel flashed green and the elevator doors opened. Dave looked on surprised as he stared at the LCD panel.

_**Identity Confirmed: Special Agent David Michael Batista**_

He entered the elevator and leaned against the guard rail as the doors closed. He looked up at the ceiling as the elevator made its decent downward. It was in an elevator just like this that he first learned about The Unit from his old partner Jackson. He hated Jackson for even bringing up The Unit to him.

The elevator came to a stop and the doors opened. Dave stepped out and looked at his surroundings. Busy as usual in the dollhouse. People walking around looking like that had important work to do. He looked around to see if he could find Lincoln in the mass of bodies but there was no sign of the young psychic anywhere.

'He's probably in his office.' Dave said to himself. He walked down the stairs into the main hub-like area and began to make his way to Lincoln's office.

He entered the office to find that no one was there.

'Where is he?' Dave thought. He walked to Lincoln's desk and saw a massive pile of files cluttering the small surface. Dave picked one up and read it. They were DMV records of Cheryl Gillett. He placed the file down and decided to go upstairs to see if maybe he was with Topher Brink getting another "Chair Treatment".

"hmm? Lincoln? Oh um he's…somewhere…around here…i…not sure…"

"TOPHER!"

"YEAH! Oh um I saw him earlier but um he's like somewhere else now dude."

"Excuse me?"

"He's gone! Vanished. Disappeared. Possibly Hidden. Now if you would please give me some room here." Topher had his complete attention focused on his workstation where he was typing ferociously. Dave looked at the monitor and saw that he was looking at a 3D image of a brain. It looked fascinating.

"Topher look I know we've gotten off to a bad start but—"

"Look this isn't about you choking me, assaulting me and um well um basically beating me up or anything." Topher rolled his eyes and continued to work. Dave was growing ever impatient with the funny looking nerd. He sat down next to him and began to make his plea.

"Listen to me Topher i… I don't need the attitude OK? I just want to know where Lincoln is."

"Do you always act this aggressive with people you just meet? I mean really you should get that checked out or something. Anger management is a beautiful thing you know?" Topher criticized

Dave drew in a deep breath and frowned. This wasn't going to end well for Topher. Dave turned and grabbed Topher's shoulders and got within inches of his face, breathing heavily.

"You listen to me you little punk. I'm going to beat you senseless if you don't tell me right now where Lincoln is." Topher eyes widen and he began stammering.

"OK OK OK! The food here sucks so he went to go get us some Krispy Kremes. He'll be back soon I swear!"

"Thank you." Dave glared and let go of Topher. He got up and headed back downstairs.

Dave sat down on a bench in the main hall awaiting Lincoln's arrival. He sighed and kept his eyes transfixed on the elevator doors waiting for them to open. His heart began pounding faster inside his chest cavity.

"Special Agent Batista."

Dave shot up and turned around to see Agent Paul Ballard standing behind him.

"Oh hi Paul."

"Hey. So how do you like your new position? I've noticed Lincoln is quite pleased to have you as his new partner."

Dave felt his heart flutter. Did Lincoln really feel that way?"

"Oh um yeah. Look Paul I not sure if this is going to work out for me. I appreciate the opportunity but I think I'm going to have to resign."

"Really…?" Paul had a concern look on his face. He placed his hands in his pockets and bit his lip.

"Yeah. I'm just not ready for this." Dave added.

"Look I understand you have some past issues you're still dealing with. We have therapist you can talk to—"

"I've made up my mind. I'm quitting." Dave replied quickly.

A long silence lingered in the air.

"OK Dave. If this is what you want then that's fine. You will have to complete a debrief before you will be officially terminated. We can do that tomorrow. It'll give you some more time to think this through. Have you told Lincoln yet?"

"Um no. I'm actually waiting for him to come back. Topher said he went on a food run."

"Yeah the food here isn't all that great, which is odd considering the budget for this place is massive, or so I've heard." Paul chuckled. "Anyways I'll leave you to tell him. I'm quite sure he'll be disappointed though. You should really reconsider Dave. We think you would be a great asset to The Unit."

"I'm quite sure of my decision Agent Ballard. Thank you." Dave said coldly. He sat back down and focused his attention back on the elevator. Minutes past before anything happened. He began to look at the people who were coming and going, noticing who was armed and who wasn't. He'd figure the non-armed civilians were psychics and the armed ones were their handlers.

Dave began to think about how Lincoln would take the news of him leaving. The words of Paul saying that Lincoln was pleased to have him as his partner resonated in his mind. Deep down Dave really liked working with Lincoln. Had Lincoln formed an attachment to Dave?

A few minutes later Dave decided that it might be best not to tell Lincoln face to face that he was resigning. He got up and headed upstairs to the elevator to leave.

'He'll understand.' Dave said to himself. He pressed the button on the side panel and waited for the doors to open. He stuffed his hands in his pockets and sighed. A few seconds later the doors opened and Dave gasped as he saw Lincoln standing before him holding a white box full of donuts and 2 coffees.

"DAVE! Hey." Lincoln exclaimed. He quickly stepped out of the elevator and beamed up at the agent.

"Hey Linc." Dave said quietly.

"I'm glad you're here because I need to show you something. It's about the case. I think I made a break. I brought us some coffee and donuts. I was here all last night trying to figure this whole thing out and I think I got somewhere."

"That's great Linc." Dave replied weakly. Lincoln's face went from a smile to concern.

"Dave is there something wrong?"

"Actually Linc I um…" Dave grabbed Lincoln's shoulder and pulled him to the side.

"What?" Lincoln asked.

"Linc I don't think that I should be here. I'm quitting."

Lincoln looked confused. "Why? What's wrong?"

Dave sighed. "It's just…I don't think I'm ready for something like this."

"Oh." Lincoln replied. He began to shift around, juggling the items in his hands with great precision despite his now feelings of confusion and despair.

"I really enjoyed working with you." Dave added.

"Yeah you too." Lincoln kept his head down.

"I'm gonna go now. Good luck with the case and all."

"Sure…"

Dave got in the elevator and watched Lincoln as the doors closed. He looked sad to see Batista leaving. Dave shook off his emotions and closed his eyes; a tear began streaming down his cheek. He needed a drink.

…


	26. Depression

**Chapter Twenty-Six – Depression**

"Give me another one Rick."

Dave sat up and gently slammed his empty scotch glass on the wooden bar, demanding another round of the alcoholic beverage. He'd been at the sleazy bar for hours, tossing back various drinks the bartender would serve him. He began to feel slightly impaired from the liquid drug he'd been consuming for the better half of the day.

"Here ya go Dave." The rough-looking barkeep gave the depressed agent a refill of the drink he'd been sporadically sipping on for the past hour. Dave particularly enjoyed scotch. It was strong and bitter, just like he liked it. He went to the bank earlier and withdrew $100 from his dwindling savings, his only source of money at the moment. He'd spent about a quarter of it already on booze. By night's end he'd expected to have spent it all in the small, deserted bar.

"Thanks." Dave grunted.

"You know Dave? I think you should slow down. Your chugging down those drinks like there's no tomorrow."

"Don't fucking lecture me Rick." Dave replied coldly.

"I'm not. I'm just giving you advice. Stop while you're ahead."

Dave rolled his eyes. "Whatever."

Dave began to play with his glass, swirling it around, spilling tiny bits of scotch on the bar. He and 3 other patrons were inside the freezing bar. 2 of them were playing pool while the 3rd sat contently in one of the booths against the window. One of the men playing pool asked Dave to join them but he declined frostily.

Dave looked at his watch. It was 7:34PM this Wednesday night.

"Ugh fuck Wednesdays" He said to himself. Dave always hated Wednesdays. The association developed when Dave was a child. His mother made him attend a special math class after school on Wednesdays. He hated it.

Dave put his glass down and begin to think about The Unit.

'_A covert group of psychic operatives and law enforcement agents investigating the strange and paranormal…that's Insane.'_

He didn't quite understand what the goal or purpose of the clandestine group was but he didn't care as much.

Dave had to debrief tomorrow before he would be officially discharged. He was worried that the blonde French-Canadian Maryse would be the one to debrief him. He didn't want anything to do with her as his experiences with her were less than pleasant.

He also thought about Kelencine, their company and the founders, the little bits of info he knew about them and what they ultimately were up to.

'_It's just all too weird. I mean c'mon…'_

Dave continued to sip on his scotch when he heard the bar door open behind him. He paid no attention to the person walking inside, instead keeping his focus on the glass cup before him. He kept his head down and managed to flood his mind yet again with extreme guilt and anguish.

"Mind if I join you?" The newest patron of the bar asked.

'_That voice…'_

Dave swirled around and saw Priya standing behind him.

"Priya…" Dave managed to choke out. His eyes were wide with surprise and confusion.

'_What's she doing here?'_

"Well, may I join you?"

"Oh um sure…yeah."

The tall and slender woman gracefully sat in the high-up bar stool next to Dave.

"Can I get a club soda please?" She kindly asked the bartender.

"Club soda, coming up." Rick replied.

Priya turned her attention back to Dave, who hung his head low.

"How are you doing Dave?" She asked quietly.

"Fine." Dave answered.

"Are you sure? You don't look OK to me."

"Everything is just peachy."

"I wish I could believe that but unfortunately I can't. Dave…Why did you leave our organization, the Unit?"

Dave kept silent for a while and then sighed.

"Because I'm not a good fit for it. It's just not me OK?"

"Try again." She said coldly.

"What?" Dave asked, taken aback at the tone of the woman.

"That's not the real reason is it? Well, at least not the deciding factor. I believe you left because you still feel guilt, guilt about your partner?"

"Listen Priya. I don't want to talk to you about—"

"Dave you should come back. Having someone like you on the team would be beneficial. Besides it's what you love doing right? Putting the bad guys away?"

"But that's not all you guys do is it?" Dave growled. "I've been thinking. There's no way a group like yours doesn't do any side projects or experiments or whatnot. I mean look at that torture chair that Topher has. There's more going on than you guys are letting on. I don't like secrets. Tell me what the hell is up with 'your organization'. What are you guys really doing?"

"You're right Dave. You're absolutely right. We do more than just solve crimes of a normal nature. We also…we investigate strange and paranormal events…"

Dave swallowed hard and looked intensely into Priya's eyes.

"What do you mean?"

"Well—" Priya stopped short as Rick delivered her drink. "Thank you." She said to the smiling man.

"You're welcome. We don't get too many pretty ladies in here like you hehe." Rick winked at Priya and walked to the back."

"Gross…" Priya replied as soon as the filthy barkeep was out of sight.

"You were saying?" Dave added.

"Have you ever heard of 'Fringe Science'?"

Dave looked puzzled. "What?"

"Fringe Science. It's the study of 'unusual things', science fiction type stuff."

"You mean like mind control, doppelgangers, and the singularity?" Dave was a big science fiction fanatic as a child.

"Yeah, those things."

"This just keeps getting weirder by the minute…"

"Yes I know but it's the tru-"

"Wait a minute!" Dave interrupted. He jumped out of his seat and startled Priya "How the hell did you know where I was?"

"This." Priya reached into her coat pocket and pulled out a series of sketches on large beige paper. She handed them to Dave. He began to look at them and gasped at what he saw.

On one of the sketches showed a large, muscular man appearing sad and upset. The man appeared to be Dave. He looked at the other sketches. He showed the man walking into a bar and drinking large amounts of drinks.

"Is this supposed to be me?" Dave asked nervously.

"Yes Dave, it's you. I drew these this morning. I didn't know what they meant until Lincoln told me what happened earlier today."

"You talked to Lincoln?" Dave asked concerned. Priya nodded. He turned his attention back to the sketches.

Dave continued to stare at the drawings. They were very good and life-like. The details were amazing.

"The GPS tracker Division installed in your vehicle lead me here."

"What? They put a tracker on me?"

"They do that to new recruits for a few months. We are a very secretive group Dave. They will remove it tomorrow."

Dave grunted and handed the sketches back to the psychic artist.

"So what? You have these drawings of me. You do you want from me?"

"I want you to come back."

"No. That's not gonna happen. You might as well just leave right now."

"I'm not going anywhere Dave. Not until you hear me out."

Dave sighed and shot Priya an irritated glance.

"Fine."

"Listen Dave, There's something you should know about Lincoln."

Dave began to stir. He was eager to know what Priya wanted to tell him about Lincoln.

"What about him? Is something wrong?"

"No, nothing's wrong. He's fine."

Dave breathed a sigh of relief.

"Lincoln likes you."

Dave's heart skipped a beat.

"He what?"

"He likes you Dave. There's something about you that he likes. A few months ago Lincoln and his then handler were involved in a car accident. His handler died. They were close. Since then he's been depressed and refuses to have another handler assigned to him. Then one day out of the blue you come around and…well he likes you. He wants you to be his new handler. You should have heard the way he talked about you after you two met yesterday. He was beaming."

Dave was at a loss for words. Did Lincoln really feel that way? Did he really like him?

"He never told me any of this." Dave replied.

"How could he? You guys only met just yesterday."

"Yeah you right…"

"Listen. Lincoln is a great guy to get to know. He's my best friend and I want to see him happy. Apparently being paired with you makes him happy. And I like you also. Please reconsider coming back."

Dave thought for a long time before answering Priya

"I can't."

"You're not a liability Dave if that's what you think."

"You don't know what I think."

"Then tell me. Please."

"I can't put Lincoln's life in danger OK? If I'm his handler, I might do something reckless like last time and…"

Priya placed her hands gently on top of Dave's.

"I can't think of no one better to protect Lincoln than you Dave. Besides he's a handful. He'll need someone like you to balance him out."

Priya pulled out another sketched from her purse and handed it to Dave. He looked at it and smiled.

"You two look very happy in that drawing."

The sketched showed Lincoln and Dave hugging and laughing together in a park.

Dave felt himself about to tear up before Priya's phone ranged.

"Hello?"

"_Priya its Topher. We got a serious emergency._"

"OK OK Topher. Calm down. Hold on a minute OK?"

Priya got up from her barstool and headed towards the door. Dave went after her.

"What's going on?" Dave asked as they got outside.

"Let me put him on speaker." Priya put her phone on speaker mode so Dave could here Topher.

"Topher what's up?" Dave asked.

"_DAVE? Is that you?" _

"Yes dumbass now what's going on?"

"_Oh yes. Its Lincoln. He might be in dancer."_

"What do you mean?" Dave inquired.

"_OK well I found out something today. I learned that both victims had severe headaches before being murdered. This was after the fact though."_

"After what fact?" Priya asked.

Topher fell silent.

"TOPHER!" Dave yelled.

"_After Lincoln went home early. After complaining of severe headaches."_

…


	27. Prey

**Chapter Twenty-Seven – Prey**

Lincoln sat behind his large, spacious desk, contemplating what had just transpired between him and his already ex-partner Dave. He sighed and rested his head on the cluttered surface and closed his eyes. He was clueless as to why Dave had made the decision he made. Lincoln thoughts were at warp speed, trying to figure out why Dave decided to leave The Unit so early.

"Ugh, maybe it just wasn't for him I guess." Lincoln thought.

Lincoln shook his head and began to organize the mountain of files on his desktop. He imagined Dave's unpleasant reaction to having Maryse debrief him tomorrow. He'd seen the video footage of their first encounter and could instantly tell that Dave didn't care for her much. Not too many folks did. Lincoln seemed to like her however. They got along quite fine.

As Lincoln finished stacking the files into one massive pile his office phone ranged.

"Burros."

"_Hi Mr. Burros. This is Kelvin Sparks down at cyber forensics, I just wanted to follow up with you on the information I sent you earlier about the Gillete/Baker case."_

"Oh yeah. I got the fax. I'm going to go check out the information in a short bit."

"_OK. We'll let you know when we finish decrypting the files on Ms. Baker's hard drive"_

"Thanks. Bye."

Lincoln hung up the phone and stood up from his chair. He received a preliminary report from the cyber forensics division of The Unit earlier that morning about a possible connection between Cheryl Gillette and Kathleen Baker. It turns out that both victims were campaign contributors and volunteers to Mark Hanson's political run for Mayor earlier that year. Lincoln thought that was an interesting link between the 2 and prepped for him and Dave to check it out. With Dave now gone however, he would have to be accompanied by another agent. The forensic tech also found a bunch of encrypted e-mail files on Kathleen's computer. That sparked Lincoln's curiosity.

He left his office, grabbing his leather coat and headed out to see Agent Ballard. Ballard was a nice enough guy and Lincoln enjoyed his company. He didn't mind asking him to go out in the field with him.

"Mr. Burros."

Lincoln swung around to see a tall, clean cut, authoritarian male standing in front of him.

"Hello Boyd…oh um *cough* Mr. Langton."

Boyd Langton was head of security and operations at the dollhouse. His presence was very commanding, yet he was one of the nicer agents inside the secretive fortress. Lincoln, as well as many others admired the seasoned vet of The Unit.

"I heard about Agent Batista's decision to leave. Sorry to hear that. He seemed like a good candidate and I could tell you enjoyed working with him.

"Yeah, um he was OK." Lincoln said quietly, not trying to let on how confused and hurt he was that the larger man had left.

"I should be assigning you another partner soon enough.

"Sure. Well I have to go. See you later."

"Might I ask where you are going?" Boyd inquired.

"To see Agent Ballard. I think I hit a break in the case and I need someone to go out in the field with me to question the suspect."

"You have a suspect?"

"Yes. Both Kathleen and Cheryl were campaign contributors to Mark Hanson's mayoral run."

"And your thinking the suspect is…?"

"Mark Hanson." Lincoln said quickly without hesitation.

"I see. I think it would be best if I assigned the case to someone else."

"Why?" Lincoln asked confused.

"Well for starters you have no partner, and given your record of not keeping one for too long, I would feel more comfortable if a more stable pair investigated the murders. Besides Mayor Hanson is a big figure to be accusing of murder."

"But Boyd I've been working this case really hard. I know it better than anyone. Just let me continue to work it. I promise I'll work with anyone you throw at me."

Boyd stood there for a while before nodding.

"How about me?"

"You?"

"Yes. I got some free time. Let's go.

"Great…" Lincoln said dejectedly.

…

Boyd and Lincoln arrived at the Los Angeles County City Hall building only a few minutes after leaving the Kelencine building. Lincoln proceeded to step out of the vehicle until Boyd placed a gentle hand on the eager man's shoulder.

"What?" Lincoln asked.

"We need a plan Linc." The older man replied.

"OK. What kind of plan?"

"We go in tactfully. This is the Mayor's office after all."

Boyd stepped out of the vehicle and Lincoln followed. They walked up the long, washed stone steps and entered the temperate building. Lincoln watched as Boyd walked over to the receptionist desk. He reached for his "FBI" badge and showed it to the lady behind the desk.

"I have a few questions for Mayor Hanson. Is he available?"

"Sure let me check."

As the woman called Mr. Hanson's office, Lincoln looked around the airy room. It had a sanitized feel to it; everything was bright white and lacked any colorful expressions.

"Mr. Hanson will see you now. Floor 5."

"Thank you."

Boyd motioned for Lincoln to follow him to the elevator. They got inside and rode it up to 5 floors up.

"I'll ask the questions OK?" Boyd said as they exited the lift.

Lincoln protested. "But I—"

"No Buts." Boyd replied. Lincoln frowned and followed Agent Langton to Hanson's office.

"Hello. Are you here to see Mr. Hanson?" Another female sitting behind a desk asked the two men.

"Yes we are." Boyd answered.

"Just right through that door." She gestured towards the large double doors across the room. They walked over and opened the door. A clean cut, alert man sat behind a desk near the windows. He was on the phone.

"OK OK I'll talk to you later Bernie. Thank you. Bye." He hung up the phone and stood up promptly.

"Welcome. I'm Mark Hanson. How can I help you two?"

Boyd spoke. "We're here to talk to you about two of your campaign contributors, Cheryl Gillette and Kathleen Baker.

"Hmm…I'm not sure I know those names. Should I?" Hanson responded.

"Of course you should. They help you with your campaign." Lincoln replied coldly. Boyd shot him a look of agitation.

"Oh, well I had many people to thank for helping out with my political run. It's sometimes hard to remember them all."

Boyd began to speak. "We understand. Is there some way we could talk to your chief of staff? Maybe he or she might be able to provide us with some insight?"

"Oh of course. Just ask my secretary Carly on your way out. She can give you the information you need. Is there anything else I can help you two with?"

"No that's all. Thank you for your time." Boyd smiled and proceeded to leave the office but stopped dead when he noticed Lincoln walking up towards Mr. Hanson's desk.

"You know Mr. Hanson. I don't agree with the decisions you've made during your what I hope to be your short tenure in office. I think your stance on community project funding is nothing short of gross incompetence. You have no idea what that money means to the people who need it. Furthermore your failure to react and lack of compassion for the 312 city employees who've lost their jobs last month is revolting. I certainly didn't vote for you and those who did made a huge mistake."

Mark Hanson stood there with a blank face before responding to the fired up male.

"I understand your frustration sir. It is duly noted."

"Right of course. You once again brush off the concerns of your constituents, an easy cop out for the dense politician."

"Mr. Burros I believe we should be going now." Boyd insisted. He grabbed Lincoln's shoulder but the younger man pulled away.

"Your son Peter, you know the drug smuggler, is better off where he is now than anywhere around you. Then again he's a murderer so he belongs where he is."

Boyd shook his head as the gloves were thrown off.

Mark Hanson stood up with fury plastered on his face. Lincoln wasn't backing down.

"Now you listen to me very carefully son. I don't appreciate you coming in here and copping an attitude with me. If you have legitimate concerns about the way I run things then you address them to the appropriate channels. If that is all then good day to you." He gestured for the two men to promptly leave his office.

"Oh right because the man who actually makes the decisions doesn't want to hear any complaints from those he is suppose to serve directly. You just send us off to someone else."

"LINCOLN!" Boyd stepped in front of Lincoln and Mark. He had an irate look on his face. Lincoln bit his lip and nodded. He turned around and stormed out of the office.

"I apologize for that." Boyd said to Mark as he too left the office. He headed towards the elevator where Lincoln was furiously pressing the buttons on the panel to get the doors to open.

"What a jerk!" Lincoln shouted as the elevator doors opened. He rushed inside and quickly pressed the ground floor button. Boyd had to rush inside to avoid the doors closing on him.

"Lincoln…"

"Yeah Yeah I know. I shouldn't have done that. I was just so upset. This guy is a disgrace to the entire city and the office he serves. I mean my god the different blunders he's committed is ridiculous. How on earth did he get elected in the first place?"

"Where is this anger coming from?" Boyd asked.

"What do you think? The guy can't do his job right." Lincoln replied. He crossed his arms and kept a stern look on his face.

"Is that all?" Boyd solicited.

"What other reason would I have?" Lincoln asked.

"Maybe the fact that Mark Hanson is the father of the man who's responsible for the death of your former partner's Dave's partner?" Boyd answered.

"Peter Hanson didn't fire the shots that killed Roger, Jeff Hardy did." Lincoln retorted.

"Yes but he was still involved was he not?"

"True, but whatever."

The elevator doors opened and out stepped the two men. They exited the building and swiftly walked down the steps to the vehicle Boyd had secured from the garage of Kelencine. They got inside and drove off to the stronghold that was the dollhouse.

"Ouch." Lincoln said as he rested against the car door.

"What's wrong?"

"My head hurts."

…


	28. Danger

**Chapter Twenty-Eight – Danger**

"Ouch! Goddammit. Ugh these headaches are gonna be the death of me, aren't they Chazzy buddy?"

Lincoln returned home from a long day of work at the dollhouse. He decided to leave early due to the sudden onslaught of brain-splitting headaches he'd gotten after visiting Mark Hanson's office with Boyd Langton. Lincoln attributed the headaches to the squabble he had with Hanson earlier. He didn't know what made him lash out at the mayor so violently but he wasn't sorry about it. In his mind the mayor deserved it and so much more.

The Gillette/Baker case weighted heavily on Lincoln's heart. He felt sorry for what their families had to go through. He especially thought about Kathleen Baker's 2 sons. How will they react when they learn their mother had been murdered? Lincoln could relate. Both his biological parents died in a car accident when he was only one years old. He didn't remember them much, only that they loved him very much. Lincoln was later adopted by a nice couple, the Bishops. His adopted mother, Elizabeth Bishop died when he was 17. His adopted father, Dr. Walter Bishop still lived, but is currently housed in a mental institution out in Boston. They weren't particularly close. Lincoln and his father were estranged from each other.

Lincoln picked up his dog Chaz from Mr. Vanderlee's and they both crossed the street to their house.

As soon as he stepped into their residence he made sure he turned off all communication devices; any and all telephones, cell phones and even his computers. He didn't want to be disturbed for anything.

"OK Chaz, time for dinner. You can eat outside while I take a bath OK?" Lincoln prepared some Puppy Chow from the fridge and set it alongside Chaz outside on the wooden patio in the backyard to enjoy his meal. He then walked upstairs slowly, gripping the handrail tightly to avoid stumbling. His head was throbbing like crazy. He hoped the bath would sooth his aching head.

He entered the master bathroom and slowly undressed himself. He ran the bath water in the large, deep tub that sat near the large bay window.

"This is just what I need." He thought as he fetched his luxury bath salts and bubble liquid. He inhaled deeply as the calming scent from the salts filled the tranquil room. He took out some candles from the bedroom and placed them lovingly around the bathroom. He lit them and turned off the bathroom lights. The mood was now set.

Lincoln, now fully nude gently put his right foot into the warm bath water, teasing the surface lightly with one toe to test the temperature of the bath he'd just drew.

"Perfect." He said with a light gasp. He slowly stepped into the tub and sat down in the water. He sighed deeply and closed his eyes. He could already feel his head relaxing.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x

"I can't reach him." Priya said frantically as she continued to violently press numbers on her cell phone.

"Try again!"

Dave and Priya furiously drove over to Lincoln's home after hearing news from Topher that he could possibly be in danger. As Dave drove, Topher continued to talk to the over the phone, giving them more details about the possible suspect.

"Topher do we know for sure that Mark Hanson is our guy?" Priya asked as Dave continued to drive.

"Well I can't say for sure but it looks like it. He has connections to both victims Cheryl Gillette and Kathleen Baker, not to mention the fact that Lincoln visited him just today. All 3 of them had the same severe headaches, 2 of them suffering from them before being murdered. I heard he pissed the guy off badly, called him out and everything."

"It doesn't make any sense. Why would Hanson go after Linc?" Dave inquired. His focus was mainly on the road, swerving pass cars left and right, the sirens on his SUV howling in the cold, still night.

"Maybe because he just set the guy off." Topher replied.

"That could also be the motive for the other 2 murders." Priya whispered.

"Correct. Cyber Forensics sent me an e-mail earlier. They finished decrypting Cheryl Gillette's computer files. Apparently they were archived e-mails. I skimmed through them. It appears that she and Hanson had an affair. There's some pretty kinky stuff in these messages."

"Bingo." Dave said quietly as he continued to drive erratically, nearly missing a mini-van.

Priya spoke. "That makes sense. Maybe she threatened to go public with the affair so Hanson shut her up by killing her. Could Kathleen also been having an affair with him?"

"Maybe so. I'll keep looking into it here. Do you guys need backup or something? I'm sure the local police can get there faster-"

"No I can handle it." Dave clenched his fist and prepared himself. Lincoln wasn't answering his phone. He feared the worst and thought Mark had already struck. Dave quickly shook the thought out of his head and spoke.

"What about the headaches? What do they have to do with this?"

"Here's the kicker of the century; Mark Hanson, among others, was a participant in a drug trial that Kelencine did back in the 70's. It was for some kind of memory-enhancing drug. I had to get clearance from DeWitt herself to look into the sealed files. There was some awesome stuff in there, I mean wow! Anyways some of the test subjects experienced hallucinations as a side effect. The researchers who conducted the trial looked further into this and found out that they weren't hallucinations at all."

"Skip to the point Topher."

"OK OK Dave calm down. Long story short, Hanson, courtesy of Kelencine, has the ability to hack someone's vision. He is a remote viewer."

"A what?"

A remote viewer. The drugs he'd taken have given him the ability to access a person's mind and see through their eyes, as if they were there themselves. The headaches are a sign that someone is being eavesdropped on."

Priya gasped. "Oh my god. Do we have any word on where Hanson is?"

"No. Boyd sent a team to pick him up at both his house and city hall but no one knows where he is, and Lincoln still isn't answering his phone…"

"Shit!" Dave yelled. He nearly sped into a large delivery truck. He slammed his breaks and swerved out of the way. The truck driver stuck his middle finger out at Dave, angering the already fired up agent even more.

"Dave, slow down." Priya said.

"NO. I need to make sure Lincoln is OK. Hanson could be there right now…"

"Lincoln can handle himself until we get there. I'm sure of it."

"I hope you're right…"

x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x

He stood outside the man's house. He noticed a few lights were on inside. The air was chilly. He'd worn a fleece hoodie to protect him from the frigid night, and to cover his identity.

He thought about their previous encounter. How dare that bastard confront him like that, in his own office no less. He wasn't going to let anyone get away with talking to him like that. Kathleen learned that the hard way…

…


	29. Say Goodnight To Me

_Last chapter of "The Unit." A Sequel is in the works._

**Chapter Twenty-Nine – Say Goodnight to Me**

"Now THAT was relaxing." Lincoln stepped out of the tepid bath and dried himself off with a plush white spa towel. He emptied the bath water from the tub and listened to the soothing sound of the water flowing gradually down the drain. His headache had subsided and all was right in the world for him again.

He tidied up everything and blew out all the candles. He sighed and wrapped the towel around himself and left the bathroom. He couldn't think of anything else to do for the night so he decided to take an early slumber. He went to fetch Chaz from outside when he was confronted by a tall dark figure in the doorway of his bedroom.

"Who are you?" Lincoln asked frantically. He stumbled back near his bed.

The stranger ignored Lincoln's question and just stood there, still and silent. He held his head down low, a hoodie over his head to seal his identity.

"Who are you?" Lincoln asked again. He stepped back but the man walked forward.

"How dare you come into MY office and accuse me of not being a good father to my son! Who the hell do you think you are?"

"Mark Hanson?" Lincoln asked baffled. After he realized that it was indeed Mark he finally put all the pieces of the puzzle together. Mark Hanson was the murderer. He killed Cheryl Gillette and Kathleen Baker, and now his life was in danger.

Mark removed his hoodie and drew out a gun from his back pocket. He pointed it at Lincoln's chest and laughed.

"I will not have someone like you disrespect me. You are beneath me you vile piece of crap!" Hanson said through gritted teeth. His handle on the firearm was firm and tight, his arm slightly shaking, his finger lightly squeezing the trigger. Lincoln was wide eyed and scared. He was nervously thinking of a way out of the situation.

"Mr. Hanson… Please put the gun down."

"YOU ARE NOT IN CONTROL! I AM!" Mark said waving his gun at Lincoln. The scared psychic held his hands up in surrender. He could feel his towel becoming loose around his waist.

"OK OK! Listen we can talk about this OK? There's no need—"

"You are in no position to make any negotiations you punk! No one disrespect me and gets away with it. Cheryl and Kathleen learned that the hard way didn't they? Those bitches tried to blackmail me but I put an end to that. Cheryl wanted money and Kathleen wanted me to leave my wife for her. They both got what they deserved. No one tries to pull a fast one on me and gets away with it.

Lincoln stood there shocked as Mark continued to go on a rant against the women he'd killed, explaining in great detail how he murdered the 2 women.

"I will not let my career fall apart because of incompetent and brainless people. I worked too damn hard for it to just let things fall out of place. My son Peter nearly cost me the election with his crimes and my wife Susan is a nutcase who can't function right without being drugged up. SHIT!"

Hanson began pacing around the room, his hands gripping the sides of his head in frustration. Lincoln needed to come up with a solid plan and quick. Mark was becoming more unhinged by the minute.

"So you can here to kill me didn't you?" Lincoln asked fearfully. He needed to buy some time.

"What do you think?" Mark asked sarcastically.

"Why?"

Mark didn't have an answer for him. He just gave Lincoln a scalding look and continued to pace back and forth.

"It doesn't make sense Mr. Hanson. Why me? "

"Of course it does. I remember you from my rallies. You and your idiot liberal freaks protested at every rally I held during my campaign. You were determined to make sure I loss in the elections. When you came to my office earlier today I saw my chance and I took it. I used my abilities to follow you here."

"Your abilities?" Lincoln asked puzzled.

"Thanks to the drug manufacturer Kelencine, I have supernatural abilities. Those headaches you been experiencing were because of me remotely viewing through your eyesight to find out where you live."

Lincoln gasped in horror. 'The headaches Cheryl and Kathleen had before they died. They were caused by Hanson.'

"You don't understand what I have to do on a constant basis to keep my job. Politics isn't as easy as you'd like to think it is."

Lincoln continued to allow Hanson to prolong his rant, waiting for the right moment to run. He figured he could take out Hanson when his attention was averted.

"You are the source of my problems. I get calls left and right from the media about all the crap that goes on in the city that I'm expected to fix and deal with. I know you are behind it all. With you gone I'll finally get some breathing room."

"That's not true. I'm not the source of your problems. Besides, you'll just be creating more problems for yourself. The FBI will link you to my and the other 2 murders sooner or later. Your career is already over Hanson."

"SHUT UP!" Mark shouted as he re-aimed his gun at Lincoln and snarled. "Time to end this."

x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x

"We're almost there." Dave said to Priya after he sharply made a right hand turn. He continued to speed down the road, desperately trying to arrive at Lincoln's house on time.

"You should turn off the sirens. We don't wanna spook Hanson if he is there with Lincoln." Priya said.

Dave nodded and promptly turned off the sirens. He made another right hand turn and entered Lincoln's quiet neighborhood. He slowed down slightly when he passed a green Cadillac parked near the stop sign at the end of the street.

"That's Hanson's vehicle." Priya noted. Dave swallowed hard and continued driving until he stopped hard in front of Lincoln's residence.

"Stay here." Dave instructed to Priya. She nodded and got on her phone.

"I'll let Topher and Boyd know that Hanson is here." She said.

Dave rapidly jumped out of his vehicle and raced up towards the house. The door was wide open. He ran inside and drew out his gun.

"LINCOLN!" He yelled out. He heard shuffling upstairs soon after. He ran up the stairs and positioned his gun in front of him as he crept down the carpeted hallway towards a room with light coming from inside. He heard muffled voices inside.

"Lincoln?"

"DON'T COME ANY CLOSER!"

Dave entered the room and saw a nude Lincoln being held at gunpoint by Hanson. He used Lincoln as a human shield and pointed his gun at the back of Lincoln's head.

"Let him go Hanson!" Dave said through gritted teeth. Hanson shook his head.

"Put your gun down first or I'll blow his brains out!"

"Hanson…"

"I'll shoot him. I swear I will! S-STAY BACK!"

Dave was put in a hard place. He needed to take down Hanson while keeping Lincoln safe. It was an impossible situation.

"OK OK I'll put my gun down." Dave slowly lowered his arm and placed the firearm on the ground. He stood back up and held his hands up in surrender.

"It's over Hanson. This place will be swarming with feds soon. You have nowhere to go."

Hanson darted his eyes back in forth, as if trying to look for an escape route. He couldn't possibly get out of the daunting situation he'd put himself in. He had only one last trump card to use, Lincoln.

"Move towards the window, now!" He instructed to Dave. Dave looked at a scared Lincoln. He had no choice but to do anything Mark told him to keep Lincoln safe.

"OK. Just let him go first."

"You don't call the shots. I do! Now move!" He waved his gun at Dave violently, coaxing him to do as instructed. Dave looked into Lincoln's watering eyes. He noticed that the naked man was shifting his eyes near Hanson's gun.

'_Is he trying to tell me something?' _Dave thought to himself. Lincoln continued to dart his eyes at the gun and look at Dave. Dave finally understood and nodded slightly.

"I said Mo—"

Lincoln slapped Hanson's arm out of the way, causing the nervous man to pull the trigger on the gun as his arm was jerked to the side.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x

Priya sat in her car nervously as she waited for Boyd and the rest of the small team that accompanied him to arrive on the scene. She began tapping her feet on the vehicle floor and kept her eyes glued on the 2-story house just yards away, worried about what was going on inside.

"Oh god…" She said, her nervousness increasing. Seconds passed when she noticed blue and red lights flashing behind her. She looked in the rear view mirror and saw several black SUV's approaching. The Calvary had arrived.

She jumped out of the car and ran over to the lead vehicle. Boyd stepped out, sporting a standard FBI bullet-proof vest and firearm.

"There inside!" She yelled. Boyd nodded and instructed his team to circle the house, creating a perimeter. Priya noticed a tall, well built man step out of one of the vehicles, a man she recognized instantly.

'_Glad he's here.' _She thought. She knew the mystery man would want to be the first inside the house to make sure that Lincoln was ok.

Boyd and a few agents were about to close in on the house when a gunshot was heard from inside.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x

Dave instantly sprung into action. Lincoln pushed Hanson on the bed as Dave ran over to subdue the gun-wielding man. The bullet that shot out of the gun hit the wall across the room. Dave grabbed Hanson's wrist and pried the gun out of his grip. He immediately aimed the gun at Hanson, who laid on the bed in defeat.

Lincoln grabbed some clothes from his wooden dresser and quickly slipped them on, a purple mesh shirt and lime green boxer shorts. Clearly he didn't care what he was wearing as long as he concealed his nudity.

"Are you OK?" Dave asked a petrified Lincoln. He nodded rapidly, keeping his focus on Hanson. A few seconds passed and Dave went over to Lincoln to place his arm around him reassuringly. He was interrupted by the sounds of heavy footsteps racing up the stairs.

"Backup." Lincoln said quietly, placing a hand on Dave's shoulder as he pointed his gun near the bedroom door. The agent lowered his firearm after the revelation.

"FBI Freeze!" Agent Langton yelled as he and a few other men entered the room. They quickly went to cuff Hanson. Lincoln was safe and Dave was relieved.

Dave turned to Lincoln to make sure he was ok when he noticed the young man swiftly running over to one of the agents. Dave had a puzzling look on his face when he saw Lincoln and the other man embrace.

"You OK Linc?" The man asked.

"Yeah I'm fine."

Dave looked on in horror as he realized who the man was.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.

Lincoln and John watched on outside the house as Boyd led the mayor in handcuffs to one of the unmarked, black vehicle. Lincoln was cold from the night air. Dave stood a few feet away, watching intently at the two men. He wasn't aware that Priya was watching him.

"That's—" She said.

"I know who that is." Dave said softly, with a hint of disgust in his voice. "John Cena."

John Cena, Dave's former FBI colleague. He and John worked as rookies back when Dave first joined the Bureau. John and Dave had a past, a past that had bad blood. He carefully looked on as he noticed the two men were in close proximity, holding on to one another.

"They're lovers, aren't they?" Dave asked frustrated. Priya nodded.

"You sure you are OK?" John asked a shivering Lincoln.

"Yes John I'm OK. Just a bit shaken up that's all."

"I should have been here to protect you." He whispered.

"You didn't know I was in danger. Luckily Topher put the pieces together, or at least I assume he did."

"Yeah Topher is the man I need to thank. I'm buying that guy a beer tomorrow."

"I don't think Topher drinks." Lincoln said chuckling.

"Well I guess I need to get him drinking then." John smiled.

"You should also thank agent Batista. He was the man who saved my life."

"Agent Batista?" John asked confused. Lincoln looked equally confused.

"Yeah. Dave Batista."

John looked on in horror as Lincoln pointed out the big man to John. Both men got a good look at each other as they walked towards one another cautiously.

"Dave…"

"John…"

Lincoln looked at both men and gasped.

"You two know each other?" He asked surprised.

"Yeah, we do." Dave said gently. He continued to stare at John, who returned the stare. The tension was so thick you could only have cut it with a chainsaw.

"Agent Cena." Boyd called out to John from his vehicle. He nodded and turned to the two men.

"I'll be right back OK?" He said to Lincoln. Lincoln nodded and John gave him a soft peck on the lips as he turned away and walk towards Boyd. Lincoln refocused his attention to Dave, who was looking at John.

"So…" Lincoln said. He didn't know what to say to the shocking news he'd just learnt. "Not to be ungrateful but what are you doing here exactly?"

Dave paused for a moment. He cleared his throat and spoke. "Priya came to see me. She tried to convince me to return to The Unit."

"Oh…"

"I told her no." Dave said silently, lowering his head. "Anyways I was with her when she got a call from Topher about Hanson."

"And you rushed over here, right?"

Dave nodded. He kept his head down, avoiding Lincoln's eyesight. A long silence passed when Lincoln gently placed his hand on Dave's forearm.

"So, do you still feel that way? Do you still want to quit?"

Dave thought for a moment then answered.

"What time should I report to work tomorrow?"

Lincoln smiled excitedly.

"Well I think DeWitt might give us a day off or two. Besides I've seen enough action for a month."

"Just another day at the office for me." Dave replied. Lincoln smirked.

"So what's the history between you and John?" Lincoln asked.

Dave frowned.

…

***THE END***


End file.
